Stockholm Syndrome
by Neassa
Summary: Have you ever wondered what would happen if you took an incredibly stubborn master thief and his gang and an equally stubborn teenage girl and her vendetta and forced them into the same van? If you have, you're a sadist. But then, so am I. Set in Sly 2.
1. Awkward Meetings

Hi, everyone! Welcome to my new story, Stockholm Syndrome! The majority of you all voted for the next fanfiction to be for Sly Cooper so, lo and behold, here I am! I am counting the reviews _and_ people who talked to me in person and surreptitiously threatened me with knives.

I really, really like this story. If you notice some writing style fluctuations, it's because I started this story two, maybe three years back. As it progresses, so will the writing style, I promise.

And yes, if you were able to read between the lines there, that _does_ mean that I have quite a lot written on this story already, so I will try to develop an update schedule. I'm thinking every week or two, but in all likelihood, I'll just update whenever I remember, lol. You guys can certainly help out the speed (and remembrance) by reviewing, though!

So, I'm assuming that those of you who are still around are sick of my babbling and are ready to read, so, without further ado, on with the chap!

* * *

><p>"<em>Please<em>, Dad?" I was being at once as annoying and as sweet as possible. It was a difficult balance to maintain, but I'm pretty sure I pulled it off; particularly because my dad was pinching the bridge of his nose and looking around for any and all conceivable exits.

"Kaia," he said, a desperate tone to his voice. "You hate flying."

"Pssh," I flapped a hand dismissively, "What's a couple of hours in a plane? It's _Egypt_, Dad! Besides, I can't remember the last time we went anywhere together." I added that last bit like an afterthought, stating like a fact, but making sure to say it as though disappointed.

I could practically see him start sweating. It was actually quite hilarious how easily a battle-hardened FBI agent could lose his composure when faced with a teenage girl. My dad was a big guy too, a husky actually, with light gray fur and a steadily growing patch of white around his dark nose.

"You don't have a passport," he said, clearly dwindling in his list of excuses. You'd think, as a profiler, he'd be able to see my inner glee as he conversationally backed himself into a corner.

Like a shark that smelled blood, I went for the kill, "Dad, I went to Europe last summer with my class, remember? I bought you a coffee cup."

He deflated visible and I gave a mental cheer, "Alright, alright. I just can't win with you."

I flung my arms around his neck and hissed his cheek, "Thanks, Dad!"

* * *

><p>Two days and a harrowing plane flight later, we landed in Cairo, Egypt.<p>

My dad and two other agents had been assigned to accompany the Clockwerk Parts from the Natural History Museum in New York, where we lived, to its sister museum in Cairo. Once there, they were to join the museum guards in keeping an eye on them for the week-long exhibit.

Things didn't exactly go to plan.

* * *

><p>I was awoken the first morning, through a haze of jet lag, by a noise from across the room. Blearily opening my eyes, I saw my dad strapping on his gun holster.<p>

I blinked, then sat bolt upright, "Dad?"

"The Clockwerk Parts were just stolen." He explained his tone serious. "There were seven guard casualties and lots of damage. I'm going to go see what I can do to help out. Do _not_ leave this room. Order room service if you need it.

There wasn't really anything I could do, so I settled on saying, "Be safe, Dad."

* * *

><p>I spent most of the day pacing. I had a couple of books and a Nintendo DS in my backpack with some spare clothes, but I couldn't seem to concentrate on the perceived entertainment.<p>

When my phone rang at nearly nine in the evening, I couldn't answer it fast enough."

"Dad?"

"Hey, Kaia."

"What's going on?"

"They only stole the Clockwerk Parts, which is understandable, given how heavy they are. There's a couple of Interpol officers here who seem convinced that the thieves will return to the scene of the crime, so it looks like a stake out. Could you bring me a clean shirt and my tooth brush?"

I almost laughed, "Sure."

"I'm sorry I can't take you to see the pyramids."

I blinked at that, then carefully sounded chipper and unsurprised, "Don't worry about it, Dad. I knew something like this might happen when I asked to come. I'll see you in a few minutes."

"See you, Kaia."

I hung up with a sigh. Great. Now he was blaming himself. This was not going according to plan in any shape, form, or fashion.

I settled my backpack on my shoulders, and went about gathering the few things Dad had asked for. It took me a little while to find the toothbrush in the medley of pockets in his suitcase, but after a few minutes, I'd put everything together in a small bag and was about to head out when I heard a familiar sound.

Being raised by as FBI agent, I spent a lot of time at the firing range as a kid. I knew what a shock pistol sounded like.

I turned off all the lights in the room and slunk over to the balcony window, sliding open the door and peering slowly around the corner.

Our room's window looked down into an alley, parallel with another hotel. There was a building at the end of the alley as well, making it a dead end, but the roof of that building was several stories lower than our hotel.

Beyond it, I could see red and blue lights reflected off the low-hanging clouds overhead and the sound of shock pistol bolts getting steadily closer. Shadows formed and disappeared and I knew that a chase was coming my way.

A chase that was coming from the direction of the museum.

I pressed myself against the wall, keeping an eye on the shadows of the opposite building. I could hear them now, the unwavering beat of feet against the rooftop and the demands of "Freeze, Cooper!"

Wait- Cooper?

Sly Cooper?

I'd heard of him before, naturally. He'd robbed some of the most famous museums in the world, but he never seemed to steal without reason. When he stole an item, the previous owner's illicit activities were usually discovered during the investigations, especially when the item in question had been acquired under shady circumstances.…

Once, a copycat of him stole the Mona Lisa. He'd stolen it back and left it with a note explaining what had happened on the desk of the Interpol officer assigned to his case.

I heard she blew a gasket.

But even through his supposed virtue, if he was caught, that would be a good mark on my dad's record instead of a black one.

I heard the _zip_ of something sliding along the power line outside and, still having an eye on the shadows, lunged when the runner was right outside my window and grabbed onto the first thing I could.

* * *

><p>Sly was not sure what had just happened. One second he was nearly to the rendezvous, about to get away clean, and the next his cane had practically been yanked out of his hand.<p>

His grip tightened reflexively and he was yanked back a few inches, losing his balance and falling the few feet to the alley street.

He shook his head and looked to see what his cane had caught on.

Or, he blinked, who.

Holding on to the golden hook of his cane, despite the fall and subsequent landing, was… what appeared to be a teenage girl. She lifted her head and glared daggers at him, her eyes seeming to glow in the dim light, her pointed ears flat against her head in agitation.

She was between him and the van, where Bentley was screaming at him to hurry up.

They both leapt up at the same time, not breaking eye contact, gripping the cane tightly. He tried to yank it out of her grasp, but she held tight, twisting with him when he tried to wrench the can away.

"Sly!"

He didn't have time for this. The sirens and Carmelita were getting closer. Sly considered his options, which really weren't that good. The girl wasn't letting go and there was no way he was leaving his cane behind. The one idea he had didn't appeal to him, but there was no time for another. "Sorry, kid."

He crouched and lunged, catching her in the middle with his shoulder and leaping into the back of the van with her.

"Floor it, Murray!"

* * *

><p>I glared at my captors, still clutching the trademark cane of Sly Cooper.<p>

I was in the back of a fast moving van; the driver was a strange-looking pink hippo wearing a mask. Cooper, that evil raccoon, was in the back with me, but he was leaning over the back of the passenger seat, which currently accommodated a turtle with whom he was conversing at a fast pace.

I flicked my ears forward, trying and succeeding to catch their conversation as they argued, not quite being quiet enough.

"… were you thinking, Sly?"

"I didn't have any choice! She wasn't letting go and I wasn't leaving my cane behind!"

"But now we don't just have grand larceny on our records we have kidnapping! _Kidnapping!_"

"Yeah, Sly. 'The Murray' does not want people to think he is a kidnapper."

Did that hippo just refer to himself in third person?

Cooper sighed, "Listen guys, we can just drop her off in a public place near a payphone and give her some money to call a ride. Bentley, what do your contacts say about the Klaww Gang?"

My ears pricked forward even further. Klaww Gang? I'd heard of them, mostly from snatches of conversation at my dad's office.

"I've tracked down one of them, an art forger named Dimitri; my sources say he has the Clockwerk Tail Feathers. We need to get to Paris." The turtle, who had now been identified as "Bentley", looked at me over his shoulder, shuddered, and turned back to his laptop, "Let's drop her off as soon as we can, her eyes are giving me the creeps."

I spoke up, "You aren't dumping me anywhere."

All three swiveled to look at me. Cooper raised an eyebrow, "What makes you think we'll let you stay?"

I tightened my grip on his cane, for all he was obviously unaccustomed to shelling out threats; I didn't want him to think he had the upper hand. I had his weapon after all. "Who said anything about 'letting me stay'? If you wanted to get rid of me you shouldn't have let me hear you were going to Paris."

He scowled, but it seemed somewhat out of place on his face, "How much did you hear?"

* * *

><p>Sly was… moderately impressed when the little hybrid girl relayed their conversation word for word. She must have gotten her aptitude for eavesdropping from the feline genes that gave her the unusual green-gold eye color that creeped Bentley out. Neither wolves nor huskies had that color and she displayed traits from both, as well as feline flexibility.<p>

Hybridization had its downsides, though. Despite the flexibility he'd seen her exhibit; she had a clumsy, broad shouldered frame that was emphasized by her short stature, the unfortunate result of a blend of canine and feline genes. Outwardly, she had the appearance of a wolf-husky, not an uncommon occurrence of themselves. Her feline genes were subtle enough, a prehensile tail, retractable claws, a slight curve to her jaw line that gave her a sharp face and, of course, her eyes.

All this he took in and analyzed instantly with the well-trained, critical eye of a thief. He was sure Bentley already knew from his own look what breed of feline and wolf the genes were from, whether they were paternal or maternal, and what the girl's blood type was.

Sometimes Bentley frightened him.

The fact remained, however, that the girl knew where they were going and was undoubtedly planning… something. Her presence in itself was weird; she had an American accent and seemed to know who they were. Who was this girl?

Whoever she was, hopefully they could avoid whatever she was thinking up long enough to finish their business in Paris and leave her behind, _without_ letting her find out where they were going next.

He glanced at the rest of his gang and saw that Bentley had reached the same decision and Murray was waiting for them to tell him what to do.

"Bentley, how soon can we get to Paris?"

* * *

><p>No one spoke for three hours. That was how long it took to reach something that looked like a cheap motel in the middle of nowhere. Cooper and the turtle donned disguises and went inside, leaving me with the hippo.<p>

I draped myself over the back of the seat lazily. I needed all the information I could get before I could figure out what the heck I was doing. To be perfectly honest, I had no idea. Let's tell the world-renowned thieves you know their plan just before they let you go! Great job, Kaia.

I guess I was thinking that I wanted to get them arrested for the sake of my dad. If he could be tied to the arrest of such famous criminals, he'd get some huge recognition. He'd always wanted to be in Interpol…

In any event, I needed to seem as small a threat as possible and still be significant enough for them not to leave me behind. This was going to be… interesting.

I started with the hippo, Murray. It seemed like a good idea; Cooper probably wouldn't let his guard down around me if he could avoid it and the turtle seemed born paranoid.

I tilted my head up at Murray, attempting to look completely innocent. I was good at lying; it came from having a profiler for a parent. You had to learn to lie with the best of them.

"What's your name?

Murray tried to flex, but the small interior of the van just wouldn't allow it. "I am 'The Murray'! Protector of Justice, Defender of the Weak!"

I blinked at him, then grinned so widely it made my jaw hurt, "Cool! What do you like to do?"

* * *

><p>The other two returned to Murray and me discussing the pros and cons or various racing games. I had the hippo wrapped around my finger already.<p>

Cooper scowled, probably all too aware of what I was up to, and tossed me a key after opening the back doors, "You're in room 106, we're in 107. What's your name anyway?"

I caught my key in slight surprise. I had my own room? Oh well, their funeral. I hopped out of the van, readjusting my backpack on my shoulders and, seeing no harm in telling them my name, said, "Kaia. Kaia Jenks."

He snorted and snatched his cane from me while I was distracted. "Your last name is Jinx. Figures."

I scowled, "Not J-I-N-X, smart one. J-E-N-K-S. My luck's bad enough as it is, or hadn't you guessed?"

He smirked at me and I rolled my eyes, stomping the short distance to the dingy door that bore the letters '106'. I unlocked the door and turned on the dim lamp nearby, casting an eye about for any creepy crawlies that may have made the room their home.

Seeing none, for the moment, I closed the door, turned the deadbolt, and linked the chain. Then I smiled slightly. This was going to be easier than I thought. Maybe the Cooper gang didn't have the Clockwerk parts, but they knew who did. They'd exchange the information for a lighter sentence. Win-win all around. Well, they'd still get jail time… ah well.

This thought process was brought on by the smart phone resting in my pocket. I'd turned it off in the hotel so it could update and had left it off in the van because it made noise when it turned on and I didn't want the Cooper gang to know I had it.

I reached into my pocket but couldn't feel my phone. My fingers brushed something distinctly not plastic and I pulled out a blue piece of paper. I unfolded it and found what I could only assume to be Cooper's calling card.

I stared blankly for a few seconds before crumpling it in my hand and growling. Okay, plan B.

I made my way to the cheap phone on the bedside table, picking it up the receiver and finding the English instruction on the little sticker… then pausing when I heard no dial tone.

I checked the back of the phone and saw only one cable. Where was the cord to connect it to the jack in the wall?

I looked behind the table and saw, to my extreme chagrin, another calling card, this one with a short note scrawled on it in black ink.

_Nice try, but no. And by the time you read this, I will have removed the doorknob from your door, so don't go off trying to get a phone from the front desk._

_Sleep well!_

So _that_ was why he had seemed smug earlier! He was laughing at me!

I kicked the wall and screamed into the first pillow I grabbed.

* * *

><p>Sly couldn't help but grin a little at the thud and the muffled screaming that came through the paper-thin wall.<p>

"So Bentley, what have you got on our pleasant friend next door?" He asked, leaning over his friend's chair as he typed away furiously at his laptop.

Bentley sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Well, it's not good. You're sure her name is Kaia Jenks?"

"Yup." Sly produced a passport from his leg pouch, having taken it from the girl's pack without her noticing, and tossed it to his friend, "See for yourself."

The turtle did and sighed, "Yup. This is a problem. Her father is an FBI agent. He must have been part of the team sent to accompany the Clockwerk Parts from America."

The thief grimaced, "As if the FBI didn't hate us enough."

"Indeed. As for the girl herself… she might be a problem. I'm getting mixed signals from her school records." He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, "Her medical records say her father was a husky and her mother was half wolf-half clouded leopard, of all things." He replaced his glasses and closed the laptop, "I'll learn more in the morning. For now, we should probably just give her a basic disguise and not give her an opportunity to slip away and contact the authorities."

Sly shrugged, "Shouldn't be too hard."

A loud snore drew their attention to Murray, who was asleep on one of the beds. They both looked at the couch, then longingly towards the remaining bed. Bentley produced a quarter.

"Heads or Tails?"

* * *

><p>There you are everyone, Chapter 1! Please let me know what you think so far of this story, I look forward to your feedback!<p>

Please Review and GOD BLESS!


	2. Ginger Ale and Paris

Okay, here we are again! I have to say, this story was incredibly fun to write, if only for the entertainment value. Not much else to say here, 'cept I started my second year of college today, so I might have trouble remembering to update unless I get reviews. Hinthint.

Onward!

* * *

><p>After a mostly sleepless night (I hated jetlag) I was awoken by loud, impertinent knocking on my door.<p>

"Rise and shine, Jinx!"

I groaned, too exhausted to correct the infuriating raccoon and pried myself out of bed with muscles that ached from being yanked from the balcony of a second story and falling to the pavement below.

I hadn't bothered to change out of my clothes so they were wrinkled beyond recognition. I wasn't a peaceful sleeper. I tried to tuck my unruly hair back into its braid and tugged on my shoes to go answer the door.

Cooper looked just as frumpy as I did, and twice as moody as he shoved a bag into my hands. I peered inside and found that it was full of brown powder. I ran a hand through it and it felt like powdered sugar. I examined my hand afterwards and found that my fur had gone from off-white to tawny. I tried to rub the dust off on my jeans, but it stayed where it was.

"What _is_ this stuff?" I asked, still trying to work my tongue from where it was stuck to the top of my mouth.

"Your disguise," he informed me tartly, "It'll come out in a couple of washes and you're a little too easy to recognize if they start airing your picture on TV. Go change clothes and get dirty, come outside when you're done." He walked away without another word and I stuck my tongue out at his back.

I looked at the sky and saw it was the cold, grey color that came before the sun actually decided to make an appearance. The birds weren't even awake yet.

Scowling, I slammed the door to my room and stomped into the bathroom to stand in the tub before tossing my dirty clothes in a corner and upending the bag over my head.

I'd certainly had smarter ideas in my life.

I hacked the dust out of my lungs once I was sure I hadn't missed any white spots. After I shook off the excess dust and stepped out of the shower, I turned on the faucet and rinsed the remains of the powder down the drain.

"Destroy the evidence." I quipped to myself, tugging my spare outfit over my head, a blue tank top and grey cargo pants. I looked into the mirror and flinched at the image of a tawny, brown haired teen staring back at me. I was so _different_.

Shuddering in slight revulsion, I shoved all of my things into my backpack, making sure to leave nothing behind. I stepped out into the parking lot and looked around for Cooper. I tried to stifle my laugh when I saw him dozing off on a bench outside my room.

He heard me and glared, muttering to himself as he gestured for me to follow him.

His hair stuck out at odd angles, the worst case of bed-hair I had ever seen in my life and his eyes were bloodshot, giving him more the appearance of a college freshman who had just pulled an all-nighter than a master thief.

He was wearing a grey short-sleeve, button-down shirt open over a white sleeveless tee and blue jeans. He looked so… ordinary, almost like a completely different person without his mask, blue cap, and cane.

Cooper climbed into the passenger seat of the van while I was once again banished to the back, this time with Bentley as company.

I really hadn't had much of a problem with the turtle until I saw him standing there with scissors and a razor blade, even though he'd called my eyes freaky.

"Sit." He ordered.

"How about no?" I started backing away from the doors slowly. I stopped dead in my tracks when Cooper turned from where he was slumped in his seat to glare at me with one, blood shot eye, a glare that promised that if he had to run me down I would live to regret it very, _very_ much.

I swallowed my fear and climbed into the back of the van, closing the doors behind me and still keeping as much distance between me the turtle as possible. Really, who would have thought that a reptile two thirds my size could look so intimidating?

"What exactly are you planning to do with those?" I demanded with a glare at the scissors.

Bentley advanced slowly, now that I was effectively cowed by his partner's morning attitude, "You'll need a different haircut, even with the color to keep people from recognizing you."

I mulled this over, gnawing on the inside of my lower lip, then sighed. I turned my back on the turtle, undoing my braid and spreading my hair over my shoulders. "I was contemplating cutting my hair short anyways."

"Don't you want us to get caught?" Cooper seemed surprised that I was being so cooperative. He also seemed to have found a blanket and now sulked under it, hiding from the light as the sun crested over the buildings and shone through a small break in the day's clouds.

I would have glared at him if scissors were not quite so close to the back of my head, "Yes, but I want you to get caught on _my _terms."

"That's not very encouraging," Bentley sounded exasperated. In a lower tone, he whispered to me, "Don't worry, Sly's always like this in the mornings. Raccoons _are_ nocturnal after all. He'll be fine once we get some food in him."

I chanced a glance at Bentley over my shoulder. He was completely focused on his task as he brushed through the wild tangles that inhabited my hair, pushing his glasses farther up on his nose whenever they slipped.

He, too, looked normal without his safari-like hat and his crossbow strapped to his back. He _acted_ normal too, for all he was allegedly a super-genius, if a bit paranoid.

Why had he reassured me like that?

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" I asked as he brought out the scissors, pushing the issue from my mind.

"It's not all that complicated. Keep your eyes ahead."

I rolled my eyes and faced forward again, hearing and feeling the snip of scissors as Bentley started to trim this and that. I sighed and tried to distract myself by not thinking about how long it was going to take to grow out my hair again.

I heard the door open and felt the van shift under me, then the door closed.

"Hey, Murray." I called up.

"Greetings, citizen! 'The Murray' has arrived with nourishment!" I heard the crinkle of a plastic sack.

The absolute next thing to reach my ears was the sound of Cooper jumping Murray, wrestling for a bit until he finally stole the sack, then retreating back into his cocoon once he had his food.

"Does he always do that?" I whispered to Bentley.

"If you mean Sly acting like breakfast is the last thing he will ever eat, then yes. If you mean Murray referring to himself in the third person, the answer is still yes."

"Ah."

A cheese Danish, still in the wrapper, and a small bottle of fruit juice were tossed into my lap. I blinked, said thanks to the car in general and set into my breakfast, careful not to move too much after Bentley almost cut my ear.

In the next two hours my head got significantly lighter. After an hour and a half of snipping, Bentley brought out the razor blade, which I tried not to focus too much on. When he was finished, I peeked at myself in Murray's rearview mirror, surprised to find myself pleased with the results.

My hair was cut boyishly short and very spiked from the turtle's work with the razor.

"Nice," I said, grudgingly, looking at it from another angle.

For a while the ride was silent. Murray was driving, Cooper switched places with Bentley so he could sprawl out in the back and the turtle was intently working on something on his laptop.

For a while, I tried to read, but that's probably not the best thing to try when one is susceptible to motion sickness.

Cooper elbowed me some time later, "What's wrong with you?" He was slightly more awake now and a little less moody because the sun had chosen to hide behind clouds for the day.

"Nothing." I mumbled, my head between my knees, trying to make the world stop spinning, eyes squeezed shut. There was silence for a bit, then I heard Cooper and Bentley mumbling about something I didn't bother to pay attention to.

"Hey, Jinx."

"Don't call me Jinx." I said automatically, looking up just in time to catch a can Cooper had thrown at me. I stared at the green aluminum in surprise, "Ginger ale?" That was-

I was taken aback when Cooper gave a grin, "Murray gets car sick sometimes. That usually helps."

I stared at the can for a moment then shrugged, cracking it open. It wasn't like there was any danger of there being anything in it.

Fifteen minutes later, I started feeling lightheaded and sleepy. I looked at the empty can in my hand, then glared at Cooper, "Alright, how'd you do it?"

His eyes widened in an innocent stare, cementing his guilt, "Do what?"

I glared, throwing the can at his head weakly, "Don't play dumb."

He caught it, giving a smirk and pointing to the open tab, "A clear, dissolvable seal on the mouth. Bentley came up with it."

"It's a good way to clear out guards," the turtle piped up.

My eyes were starting to close all on their own. "Alright, fine, but your pillow is forfeit." I grabbed it and pulled it close before my eyes shut for good.

* * *

><p>I awoke slowly, my head fuzzy.<p>

I'm not sure how long I lay there, getting my thoughts back together, but the amount of time wasn't short. I finally gathered the energy to sit up and look around.

I was on the ground floor of a dilapidated apartment. The wallpaper was peeling and missing in several places and the couch I was sitting on smelled weird, as did the rest of the apartment. Three pallets were made up on the floor, a suitcase beside each; I found my own backpack next to the couch.

There was a rickety looking table and four chairs in one corner, stairs leading up on the opposite wall, and a window in the remaining corner, which revealed to me that it was night time.

I got up and walked over to the window, vainly attempting to flatten my now-short hair. Once I made it to the window and saw what lay on the horizon, I could only stare blankly.

It was the Eiffel Tower. I was _really_ in Paris.

I clamped down, hard, on the teenage girl urges that demanded I freak out about this. Instead I turned to the stairs, where I could hear the whirr of electronics and hushed voices, and climbed them.

I soon realized that I had walked into a techno geek's domain. There were four computer monitors, three of which were hooked up to weird, color coded digital antennae, one blue, one green, and one pink. Two of those monitors were off; a third displaying the city streets, Bentley was behind the fourth if the back of the blue shell jutting out behind it was any indication.

Murray was sitting at a table in front of three large windows, devouring a lunch meat sandwich and dripping mustard over what looked to be complex blue prints. He was the first to notice me, "Greetings, fair maiden!"

I gave him a weird look, "I'm not sure whether that was an insult or a compliment."

A thud came from the general direction of the fourth monitor as well as what could easily have been a muffled swear. Bentley retreated from behind the monitor, setting a grey antenna next to it and rubbing his head, "Well, I see you're awake."

"Noo…" I leaned against the wall, leveling a stare at him, "I'm sleepwalking."

"Thank God, maybe I _will_ be able to get something done." He muttered, disappearing behind the monitor again to retrieve a wrench.

I blinked stupidly, "Bentley?"

"Hmm?" He placed his wrench by the blueprints and now sat in front of a laptop.

"Were you just _sarcastic_?"

He deadpanned, "Believe it or not, I do have the mental capacity to be witty _and_ beautiful at the same time."

I couldn't help chuckling a bit as I pulled up a chair and sat next to him, "You know, you're not so bad. Where's Cooper?"

"Ask him yourself." Bentley turned the computer toward me. I saw the streets of Paris from high above, a roof probably. The camera turned to face what looked to be a satellite dish and a hand came from the lower right hand corner and typed a numerical code into the satellite's control panel.

I pushed the 'Mic On' button and spoke into the speaker in the sweetest voice I could manage, "Oh, Cooper… Remind me when you get back that I owe you a slap upside the head."

His voice filtered back to me from the speakers, _"Good morning to you too, Jinx."_

"Don't call me Jinx." I replied automatically, then I blinked for what seemed to be the millionth time, "Is it morning?"

_"3: 36 A.M."_

"I slept for fourteen hours!"

_"Yup, thought I was going to have to kiss you to wake you up."_

Many exaggerated gagging noises later, Bentley pushed me out of the way so _he_ could talk to Sly, "Nice work with the satellites, but I need you to get into Dimitri's actual operation. You should be able to sneak in through that old wine cellar."

I looked over at Murray as he got up and went out the door, raising an eyebrow. As soon as Bentley got off the mic, I turned back to him, "Where'd Murray go?"

"He went to go help Sly. The wine cellar they're sneaking into is heavily guarded. They'll need to fight their way in."

I frowned at that, "So who are you guys robbing tonight?"

"No one." Bentley didn't even look up from the laptop, "We're just gathering information. It's not as simple as just walking into a place and walking out. We have to figure out guard patrols, the opportune moment, where our target even _is_, not to mention-"

"Okay, okay, I get it!" I rolled my eyes, "So who will you eventually be stealing what from?"

In just a few keystrokes Bentley had a picture of a purple salamander up on the screen, "Dimitri, the Klaww gang's local operative. He forges old masterpieces, deals spice, and does business out of a large nightclub he owns on the west side. He has the Clockwerk Tailfeathers, though we don't know what he's using them for yet."

That made my head spin. Was it alright to steal from criminals who had only acquired what was being stolen through illegal means in the first place?

"So, why are you guys so desperate to get the Clockwerk Parts? What's the big deal?"

Bentley gave me a look a scholar would give to the village idiot, "Do you know who Clockwerk was?"

I shrugged and shook my head.

Bentley sighed, "Clockwerk was an owl consumed with hate for the Sly's family. He replaced his body with machinery in order to live long enough to completely wipe out the Coopers. Every single one of Sly's ancestors was killed by Clockwerk eventually. When Sly was eight, Clockwerk caught up with his family. His dad hid him in a closet and Sly peeked out just in time to see his father killed right in front of him."

It took a lot of effort to correlate the thought of the happy-go-lucky raccoon I'd met to someone who'd witnessed his father murdered at a young age.

"The orphanage Sly ended up in was where he, Murray, and I met. Two years ago we thought we'd wiped Clockwerk out when Sly defeated him over a volcano and Clockwerk fell to the lava in pieces. We were wrong; somehow the individual parts resisted corrosion. The 'scholars' at the Natural History Museum thought it was harmless too, so they didn't even properly examine it." Bentley paused in his story to give Sly a piece of advice about the large guards with flashlights before going back to his story, "We need to destroy all of the pieces individually. Only then can we be sure Clockwerk is truly gone."

I wasn't sure what to think. If I were to call in Interpol, they'd arrest the Cooper gang, but would they believe their story about Clockwerk? If it were true and the authorities didn't believe it… then what?

The phrase, '_It takes a thief to catch a thief,_' ran unbidden through my mind.

"Ah, Sly's made it inside," Bentley turned the mic on, "Go over to those windows Sly, we'll need some recon photos."

* * *

><p>As it turned out, Dimitri had been using the Clockwerk Tailfeathers to print counterfeit money. I couldn't really blame the Cooper gang for going after a guy like that. Counterfeiting could cause major problems and if it was done well it could be ages before it was discovered, and when it was, the economy had the potential to plummet to the ground practically overnight.<p>

Unfortunately, I wasn't exactly kept in the loop. The combination of jet lag and the time I'd been tranquilized kept me up during the day, when everyone but Murray was asleep, and I was completely out at night, despite the fact that the first night I'd been completely awake while Cooper was doing reconnaissance.

The only other time I'd woken up in the night it was because one of Bentley's experimental trigger bombs had gone awry and even then I was unable to stay awake long enough to get any kind of information. I'd been playing video games with Murray, but he wasn't a very good source of intel.

It was the third night in Paris when Cooper shook me awake.

"C'mon," he said as I yawned and sat up, "The heist is tonight. We need to get out of the country as soon as it's complete."

"It's tonight?" I rubbed my eyes, "Some warning would have been nice." I stood and started rolling up my blanket.

He tweaked my nose before I could stop him, "So you could call Interpol while we were sleeping? Not a chance."

"Hey now," I yawned again, cutting myself off, "Give me some credit. I wouldn't be getting in the way of shutting down a counterfeit operation that could cripple an economy." I zipped up my backpack after shoving everything inside and Cooper grabbed it from me, swinging it up on his shoulder.

"How noble. I have underestimated you indeed."

I stuck my tongue out at him, ignoring his chuckles as we went out to the van and I climbed in the back. Bentley and Murray were already in the van, the former in back with me. He had apparently moved his surveillance system into the van because we wouldn't be returning to the Safehouse.

"Here's the plan," He said to me as Cooper climbed in the front and Murray started the car, "You stay in the van while we get the Tailfeathers. If any guards or police come near the van, stay out of sight of the windows and be absolutely still and quiet. If you start getting towed, honk the horn. We won't be too far away."

I nodded mid-yawn, only half listening. I had already unrolled my blanket and propped my backpack up against the side of the van to be used as a pillow.

Cooper rolled his eyes in my general direction, "Bentley, I don't think she'd wake up if the van _exploded_."

"Would too…"

"Would _not_. Go back to sleep."

* * *

><p>I woke up when the entire van rumbled slightly, dislodging a baseball bat from only God knows where and dropping it directly onto my head.<p>

I flailed in pain and surprise before realizing what had happened and voicing a few choice words, shoving the bat away. I was warm and toasty for all of five seconds before a voice came over the bug box.

_"Yo, yo, my peeps! The fuzz, they is bustin' in the joint. Make the evidence past-tense my brothers; send the coppers after those lousy no-good party-crashing cracker-boxes, capice? Peace out!"_

It took me a full twenty seconds to translate what had just been said into words I could comprehend.

Apparently the police had shown up and Cooper, Bentley, and Murray were on the run, which meant they'd probably succeeded in getting the Tailfeathers. They'd be headed this way, but the guards of the night club didn't seem the type to let thieves get away without some sort of fight.

I jumped into the driver's seat and turned the keys in the ignition where Murray had left them. Satisfied that the engine was warming up, I snatched the baseball bat from where I had pushed it aside, just in case, and positioned myself at the back of the van, peeking through the back windows.

I didn't have to wait long, I saw the gang in less than a minute, dodging blasts from Dimitri's guards. Bentley was in the lead, Murray behind him carrying three large metal things that I assumed to be the Tailfeathers and Cooper was behind them, taunting the nearest guard to draw fire away from his comrades.

I threw open the back doors, "Hurry up, you guys! The cops are on the way!"

I jumped down to let Murray throw the Tailfeathers in the back and Bentley into the passenger's seat before he jumped behind the wheel. Seeing that he seemed a bit more competent than the others, I threw the baseball bat at the closest guard, scoring a direct hit and distracting him long enough for Cooper to leap in the back.

I jumped back in and Murray hit the gas almost before I had the doors closed.

There were five minutes of dead silence in that car, aside from most everyone panting and catching their breaths before Cooper began to chuckle, then to laugh. Bentley and Murray joined him shortly.

"I missed the joke," I grumbled, extracting my backpack from under the Tailfeathers and praying that nothing had been broken.

The raccoon surprised me by throwing an arm around my neck, "I can't believe you helped us escape! The cops would have gotten us any second!"

I felt my face heat up, "I did _not_ help you escape! I threw a baseball bat at someone who was shooting in my general direction! It was _completely_ self defense! Adrenaline clouds your judgment."

He chuckled again, "Sure, sure. Hey, Bentley?"

"Yes, Sly?"

"What's that thing called when a hostage or captive gets emotionally attached to their captor and begins to care about them? I think is starts with an 'S'."

"Stockholm Syndrome."

"Yeah, that's it!"

I growled and shoved him away, "I do _not_ have Stockholm Syndrome! I am _not_ emotionally attached to _any_ of you!"

"Hey, Bentley?"

"Yes, Sly?"

"What's that other thing? You know, the one where-"

"Denial."

I beat my head repeatedly against the side of the van.

* * *

><p>There we go, finally getting past the beginning and headed for the good part! Always interested to hear what you think, so please review and God Bless!<p> 


	3. Hydrophobia and Madmen

Alrighty, let's do this!

... Honestly, you'd think I'd have more to say, but other than something along the lines of maniacal laughter and choking on my gum, I'm coming up blank.

On with the chapter!

* * *

><p>I raised an eyebrow, "More French people?"<p>

When they had said "get out of the country" they meant it, but only in the most technical terms. We were now in Monaco, completely surrounded by France and French was still the native language. A language I didn't speak.

Why me?

Cooper tossed me a smile over his shoulder, "Bentley wanted to try out his new card-counting formula in one of the casinos. We could always use a bit of legitimately obtained money."

I rolled my eyes exaggeratedly as he handed me a key card and we headed for the hotel elevator, Bentley and Murray had gone to get food and whatever else they needed for a few days in a hotel, "Yes, Cooper. Gambling is _very_ legitimate."

The hotel was decorated in a red and gold color scheme and was fairly high class. I caught myself staring at the large outdoor pool as Cooper and I passed a window displaying it.

When we finally reached our rooms on the fifth floor (I got my own again. Confused, but not complaining), I immediately called dibs on the one that overlooked the pool. The water was a deep aqua color, surrounded by the local flora, it was a nice view that I intended to appreciate.

I poked my head through the adjoining door that connected my room to the others' and saw the raccoon putting Bentley's bag on the couch with a look of deep satisfaction, "Hey,Cooper? Does this hotel have a laundry service?"

He nodded, "Mhmm, I was just going to take some of our stuff down there, if you have something you need washed, there's a bag in your closet. I'll take it down." He headed to the closet in their room, apparently to fetch his own laundry bag.

I shrugged, locating the bag where he'd said it'd be, "Just a couple of things. I packed for a day or two in Egypt, not a week-long trek across Europe." He looked contemplative when I handed him my mostly-empty bag, but I didn't think too long on it as I'd caught a glimpse of the massive shower in the bathroom, "I'm going to take a shower."

* * *

><p>I have a bad habit of taking the longest showers; I'm pretty sure I was in there for forty-five minutes.<p>

When I got out, I opened the bathroom door to find something dangling precariously on the handle. I took it off to find that it was a paper shopping bag, with the name of a store emblazoned in French on the front.

Confused, I closed the bathroom door and set the bag on the sink counter, opening it up. It contained another pair of jeans, two T-shirts, and a one-piece bathing suit.

I held each new piece of clothing up to myself in the mirror, surprised to find that they looked like they'd fit, if be a bit big or long, in the case of the jeans.

Still wearing my old clothes I took the bag and went to peek through the adjoining door to the guys' room. "Umm…"

Sly, who was the closest to the door, saw me and accurately interpreted my confusion. He grinned, "Thought you could use more than just two outfits."

I wasn't sure what to do with that, feeling my face heat as I turned back to my room, "Uh- I'm gonna go swimming."

I closed the door and heard a muffled, "Didn't she just take a shower?"

I changed into my bathing suit quickly, becoming more excited at the prospect of swimming. I was very much a water person. When I was little I spent about 85% of the summer in the local swimming pool.

I grabbed a towel and headed downstairs. Once I managed to find a door leading to the outside, I cannon-balled into the pool, drenching a few sunbathers who immediately stood and left without a word. This was entirely on purpose on my part; I'd always found the presence of sunbathers to be awkward.

"Now you scared off the only thing I had to look at," Sly complained, perching himself on the edge of a recently vacated lawn chair, wearing only swim trunks and an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt.

I wondered how he had gotten there so fast, but realized he was probably three times faster than me even in my wildest dreams. I flattened my ears against my head and sank into the pool until only my eyes were above the water, glaring.

"Aw, don't be that way," He glanced over at me and tilted his head, "Your disguise is coming off."

"Eh?" I looked down at myself to see he was telling the truth. It looked as though dust were melting off my fur into the water. "Victory!" I'd hated that thing. I dove deeper into the pool completely submerging myself once again.

When I surfaced Sly was looking at me with a strange expression. "How can you stand it?"

I tilted my head, "Stand what?"

"All that _water_."

I rolled my eyes, floating onto my back, "Says the thief that does pirouettes on telephone cables to get around."

He flashed his trademark grin, "That's different. Water is a force of nature."

"So is electricity. Bzzt!"

He rolled his eyes and leaned back on his lawn chair. An evil idea slowly came to light in my mind.

"Cooper?"

"Mm?"

"Am I sensing a bit of… hydrophobia?"

"… No."

Sure. I waited a few moments, then slunk over near him and flung my arm forward, sending droplets of water all over him.

To my disappointment, he didn't scream like a girl or anything. He just flinched so violently he fell off his chair and onto the sun-baked sidewalk.

I cackled and slunk deeper into the water in the face of his glare. "I was right! I bet you don't even know how to swim!"

Cooper stuck his nose in the air as he stood, brushing off his trunks (wait, why did he have those if he didn't swim?) and trying to gather the shards of his dignity, "I don't _need_ to know how to swim, thank you very much!"

I blew raspberries at him from under the water. "Yeah, right! What if you fall in the water during a heist?"

He shuddered, "That won't happen."

"Come on, if you ask _real_ nice I'll teach you!"

"No."

"Kinda nice?"

"No."

"Marginally nice?"

"No."

"Cooper, get your fuzzy butt in the water."

"No."

I growled, "I dare you!"

He twitched, trying to keep his composure. Haha, always the way to get into a guy's head, challenge him. Finally, he said, "You're on."

I grinned, and gestured to the steps, "Come on in."

He hesitated.

"Or we could start in the kiddie pool." I deadpanned, glancing over to said pool, which was only two feet deep at best.

He seemed relieved, "Yes, please."

I swam over to a ladder and pulled myself out of the pool while he shrugged off his shirt and laid it on the lawn chair. I jumped into the kid's pool, splashing a bit before lying down and pulling myself through the water with just my arms, it was warmer than standing.

Sly stood at the steps and hesitated again.

"For the love of all that is pure and holy… it doesn't even come up to your knees!"

He glared at me, stuck a foot in the water, and then made to turn away, "Well, I think that's enough for today!"

I grabbed his foot and pulled. He yelped and had to hop into the water or fall backward and crack his head open. I got him to the middle of the pool and let go. Immediately he latched onto me, all his fur standing on end like he'd gotten a static shock.

I rolled my eyes, "Let go you pansy, you're in two feet of water!"

Our "lessons" continued like this until Murray came to get us for dinner. Unfortunately he thought the pool (I had just barely managed to convince Sly to get in the shallow end of the big pool) looked like fun and… cannon-balled into it.

The resulting tidal wave washed Sly and I out of the pool and once the water ebbed away I shook my head to clear any stray water droplets from my face and opened my eyes… to see Sly looking back at me, mischief written all over his face.

I then realized that I was lying on top of him, my hands on his chest as I propped myself up. I felt blood rush to my face, so much that I was sure my fur had turned pink.

I squeaked (which I will deny to my dying breath) and started to scramble to my feet, but arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me back down. Warm breath tickled my ear.

"Leaving so soon?"

I elbowed him in the gut, noting his grunt as I knocked the wind out of him with satisfaction. I lurched to my feet and hid behind Murray, who was just emerging from the pool, "That was just creepy, Cooper! Cruel and unusual payback!"

"Yeah, no kidding." He wheezed, still lying on his back, slowly curling into a fetal position with his hands wrapped around his stomach.

I stuck my tongue out at him.

* * *

><p>After a hot meal ordered from room service, I took my second shower of the day.<p>

Having changed into a new outfit, I took a towel and went into the guys' room, drying my hair as I did, "What are you planning to do now?" I asked as I entered, noticing that they were all dressed for a night on the town.

Bentley was the one who answered, "I'm going to go try out my formula on the casinos downstairs."

"Wanna come?" Sly asked, smirking.

I glared, bristling, "No thanks. I'll just stay here, plotting your ultimate demise." I fluffed my hair as I talked, to make it dry faster.

Cooper shrugged, "Suit yourself."

Soon he and the others were gone. I tried to amuse myself in the hotel rooms, but upon discovering that the TV was in French, I seriously contemplated throwing myself off the balcony.

I soon resorted to snooping through the guys' stuff. I was extremely careful, putting everything back the exact place I found it. The only stuff I found of Murray's was a bunch of coloring books and some half-eaten crayons. Bentley's stuff bored me, a bunch of dismantled hard drives and a few books on theoretical physics.

Cooper's stuff, however, provided me with much-needed amusement.

I found his pad of personalized stationary, which he wrote all of his calling cards on, his hat (which seriously needed a wash), and the red little pouch he strapped to his leg, which contained a ton of lock picks.

Bored again, I was about to go back into my room when I caught sight of the corner of some kind of book poking out from under one of Sly's shirts. My ears pricked up. What did we have here?

I gently and carefully extracted the book and stared at the cover. It looked like it had been to hell and back. The cover was well-worn leather with miniscule tears and even a few burns smattered across it. The pages were uneven with each other, looking to have been torn out a few times then placed back in.

"The 'Thievius Raccoonus'?" I muttered to myself. The title was embossed boldly on the leather, the Cooper emblem branded underneath it.

Curious, I opened to the first page.

I hadn't even noticed how long I'd sat there until I heard the distinguishable sound of Murray climbing the stairs.

Feeling like a kid sneaking snacks who hears the garage door open, I hurriedly replaced the book and lightly stepped to my room, turning out the lights and sliding under the covers, just as I heard the deadbolt to the next room open with a _clunk_.

* * *

><p>Sly slowly opened the adjoining door to check on their impromptu guest. The top of her fluffy black hair could be seen, but the rest of her was buried beneath the comforters, which rose and fell in time to her slow, even breaths.<p>

Satisfied and somewhat suspicious, he closed the door and turned to Bentley, who was tapping away at a laptop, Murray had somehow managed to already fall asleep, "Bentley, is she really a threat? She hasn't done anything yet."

Bentley paused for a moment, then went back to his assault on the keyboard, "Don't underestimate her, Sly. I've got a bad feeling about that hybrid."

"What do you mean?" the raccoon asked, leaning on the back of his friend's chair.

The turtle pulled up a document on his computer, "She seems to be a little more than she appears. I hacked into her school's computer system to read the assessments from her teachers, just to see if we had anything to worry about. The teachers either seemed to think she had a learning disorder, or that she was brilliant, just lazy. She also has quite a disciplinary record, stretching back to elementary. She was always implied to be involved in incidents, but there was never any proof."

"Translation, please." Sly asked.

Bentley sighed, "We have opposite ways of thinking, Sly. I'm logical, this girl isn't. She has keen manipulative and lying abilities that are almost as natural as breathing to her. And according to her math teacher, her favorite thing seems to be finding confusing and superfluous ways to do things."

Thieving gears were turning in Sly's head, "Too bad she's got a cop for a dad; those traits could be useful in an operative."

Bentley glared, "Don't even _think_ about it Sly; we'll have enough problems if she decides to give us hell without you trying to convert her."

"Ah, but think of the possibilities," Sly started to say, then he shut up at the look Bentley was giving him.

The turtle rolled his eyes, "We're in trouble."

* * *

><p>The next two days passed quickly; I snuck in to read the Thievius Raccoonus every night.<p>

That book explained _everything_ Sly was able to do. It explained it so well that I thought I might even be able to try it myself, but I was too much of a coward to follow through. Running on power lines? Not my cup of tea.

It was on the third night we were in Monaco that I woke up in the middle of the night because my air conditioner had clicked off, the sudden silence registering in my subconscious.

I got up to turn it back on when I heard hushed whispers coming from the next room. Carefully, I crept over to the door and lay down on the carpet, putting my ear to the crack at the bottom of the doorway. Small snatches of their conversation drifted to me when I stilled my breathing.

"… sure, Bentley?"

"Positive, Sly. The Clockwerk Wings are in India, owned by a spice dealer named Rajan. He's so successful that he's trying to pass himself off as royalty. He's crowned himself 'Lord of the Hills' and is going to display the wings at a ball in his newly purchased 'ancestral' palace."

"Can we be on our way to India by tomorrow morning?"

"Definitely."

"What about Kaia?"

"Murray, Rajan is a spice dealer _and_ a member of the Klaww gang. He's ruthless. Even if she wasn't planning to turn us in to the police, I'd say we leave her here."

"But if we just ditch her I'd kind of feel like scum."

"Don't worry, Sly. We can leave quietly in the morning, while she's still sleeping and call in an anonymous tip to the local Interpol agency. They should be there to get her by the time she wakes up."

I jerked back, bonking my knee on the baseboard of the wall.

That- that was just-!

Wait- what was I so mad about? I didn't care. I didn't want _them_ to care either. Caring equaled Stockholm Syndrome, which I _didn't_ have.

Right?

Right.

I went to listen again, but there was silence in the next room. I strained to hear something, anything, and then my door swung open, hitting my head.

I yelped in surprise and pain, scooting back, and rubbing the impact site. I looked up and saw Sly glaring down at me, his usually cheerful face annoyed.

I gave my best impression of his trademarked grin, "Sooo… India then?"

* * *

><p>Cooper wasn't happy with me.<p>

That was the vibe I was getting, anyway. The fact that he wasn't talking to me and the glares he kept giving me were pretty good indicators.

Even when we had pit stops, he refused to let me out of his sight. He walked me to the restroom and waited outside, glaring at the door.

I sighed as I washed my hands. This was getting ridiculous. My newest disguise had turned my fur bluish-black, I kinda liked it.

I shut off the water and flipped my hands back and forth before going to the wall dryer. While I was thus occupied, two women came into the bathroom, chatting to each other.

They were speaking English.

I smiled slightly to myself. I walked up to them, my hand behind my back, the picture of a lost, dejected tourist, and looked at the most naïve appearing one.

* * *

><p>Sgt. Jenks sighed and hung up his gun holster as he walked back into his house after his meeting with the director of Interpol.<p>

They had barely missed Cooper in Paris and there was still no sign of his daughter.

This was all his fault… he never should have taken her to Egypt.

He rubbed his forehead; he needed sleep. He took his cell phone out of his back pocket and turned it on. Hmm… one message from a number he didn't recognize. Who would be calling him?

He input his voicemail code and put his phone up to his ear to listen.

_"Hey, Dad! It's Kaia! Just wanted to call and let you know I wasn't dead yet and had a great time in Monaco. The gang and I are headed to India now to go to Rajan's ball. Anyways, I should go now, the nice tourist I borrowed this phone from probably wants it back. I love you!"_

He stared blankly at his phone for a moment, then pressed speed dial four.

"This is Sgt. Jenks from the FBI. Patch me through to the director, my daughter just made contact and I know where Cooper is going next."

* * *

><p>Dun-dun-DUUUUN!<p>

Okay, not really. C'mon, if I was relying on _that_ to be a legitimate plot twist, I'd be a pretty bad writer, huh?

Anyways, hope you enjoyed this latest installment of Stockholm Syndrome! As always, I look forward to any reviews and if you read and enjoy and don't review, you are responsible for a little part of my soul dying.

What can I say, I crave attention.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed and God Bless!


	4. White Lights and Explosions

Okay, so this _might_ be a couple of days late, but you'll forgive me right? ... right?

Okay, so I just found out that Sly 4 is being developed by a team other than Sucker Punch. The actual name of the group escapes me at the moment, I just hope they do a good job with the characters. If they don't, I think I'll just ignore Sly 4 in its entirety and write the third story in this series about something I make up.

Anyways, now that that's out of the way, on with the chapter!

* * *

><p>I hummed a happy little tune as I helped Bentley carry some of his delicate computer equipment into our new Safehouse in the side of a cliff, just outside the palace grounds.<p>

After two straight days of travel (which I only survived because I was nice and doped up on motion-sickness tablets that we'd picked up along the way), I was more than happy to stretch my legs and work my neglected muscles. Murray was carrying the heaviest stuff, Bentley was inside, instructing us on where to put everything, and Sly was dead asleep in the front of the van. I couldn't really blame him, he was still nocturnal and that evening he was going to sneak into the ball to take reconnaissance photos. The ball was only going to last two days, so he needed to be ready and well-rested.

Not that they would actually get an opportunity to follow through with the heist. I tried and failed to hold back a bout of evil laughter.

"Well, that was creepy."

I yelped and jumped, causing various cords to fall from my arms. I lunged to catch them, but a grey hand beat me to it. I lost my balance and another steadied me. Thoroughly flustered, I snatched the cords from Cooper's hand, ignoring the smirk on his face, "That was uncalled for!"

"Yes, because the bout of evil laughter made complete sense. You're plotting something aren't you?" Sly's tone was joking, but his eyes were serious, "Should I be afraid?"

I smirked, "You should always be afraid." Let him chew on _that_ for awhile, "Aren't you supposed to be sleeping anyhow?"

He pointed to where the sun was sinking behind the trees, "It's about time to get started." He stretched and cracked his neck a few times, "Get those cords to Bentley; I'm going to get into position. I'll be waiting for his instructions." And with that, he took off for the waterfall. Apparently his fear of water didn't affect him when he was on the job. That was weird.

I huffed and hurried up the stairs into a large, cave-like room that Bentley had managed to turn into a monitoring station. I helped him plug in the last few cords and Sly's binocucom station lit up. At that point, he was evidently studying some conical rocks poking out of the river.

"This calls for the Ninja Spire jump," I heard Bentley say into the microphone on his laptop, "Sly, do you remember it?"

_"How could I forget one of the Cooper clan's greatest thieving moves?"_ Sly said, pride clear in his voice.

The Ninja Spire jump? I hadn't read that far in the Thievius Raccoonus… at least, not yet. I gave Bentley and Murray sidelong looks. Bentley was completely absorbed in giving Sly directions, Murray in a new coloring book. They wouldn't mind if I slipped out for a moment.

So I did. I made my way to the van, where everything but Bentley's equipment was still packed. Apparently they were aiming for a quick getaway. It didn't take me long to find Sly's family tome. I quickly flipped through to the place I'd stopped reading and turned the page. Lo and behold, there was the Ninja Spire jump.

I settled in and started reading aloud to myself, "The Ninja Spire Jump and Landing were developed by Rioichi Cooper as a method to sneak into the heavily fortified feudal castles of Japan…"

* * *

><p>I gnawed on my thumbnail as I continued to read. I was on the last technique in the book, the one Sly's grandfather developed, about a thief's reflexes being sharpened to the point that time appears to slow.<p>

"So, this is what you've been doing."

I yelped and dropped the book on the floor of the van, scrambling back like a demented crab. I glared when Sly started laughing at me, "Stop doing that!"

He picked up the Thievius Raccoonus, closing it, then dusting off the cover. He looked at me with a wicked twinkle in his eye, "I would have let you read it if you were _that_ curious."

I glared, feeling my face heat up for the nth time, "I was _not_ curious! I just… wanted to know how you walked on wires without electrocuting yourself!"

He bonked me on the head lightly with the book, "That _is_ curiosity. Besides, if that's all you wanted to know, why did you read the whole thing?"

"How do _you_ know I read the whole thing?" I asked impertinently, crossing my arms and looking pointedly away from him.

He rolled his eyes and grabbed my hand, dragging me back towards the Safehouse, "C'mon, we need you at the briefing."

Wait a minute… My Something's Screwy Senses ™ are tingling. I tried to yank my hand back with no effect, "Why do you need _me_ at the briefing?"

He gave me a grin over his shoulder, "Oh, you'll see."

Up the cave steps we went. Inside, a table and three folding chairs were arranged around a crudely thrown together projector system. Bentley was standing next to his laptop, which was hooked up to said projector system. Murray was already seated in the chair farthest to the left.

"Oh, good, you found her. Take a seat you two."

I found myself sitting in the middle, stuck between Sly and Murray when the slideshow began. A picture of a tiger sitting in a throne before a four-armed statue with steel wings behind it came up.

"Stealing the Clockwerk Wings in the middle of a crowded ballroom is going to take some serious misdirection. The squad of undercover cops just makes things even more difficult."

I smirked at that, apparently Dad had gotten my message. A picture of a purple tiger came up, followed by a picture of a giant spider, then one of Carmelita Fox, one of few cops with a completed case record of 99%. Sly Cooper was the one percent she was without, so she was currently pursuing him with everything she had.

The next picture was of a dark grey husky in a tuxedo, looking sidelong at Rajan as he sipped from a glass of red wine.

I flinched and fell out of my seat, hitting my head hard on the leg of Murray's chair.

"Ow!"

"Are you okay?" Murray helped me sit back while I rubbed my head, combing my hair over the impact site when I felt blood.

I stood shakily, "Yeah, fine. Let's get on with it." I sat back in my chair, not missing the look that passed between Sly and Bentley.

The rest of the slideshow spoke of the security and defenses of the palace. I honestly wasn't paying attention for much of it, too busy contemplating what I had seen.

"Okay…" I said when it was over. "So, why am I here again?"

Cooper looked at me, the smirk was back, "Remember the misdirection Bentley was talking about?"

"Yeah…?" I gave him a suspicious look.

Bentley took over the explanation, "I am going to have Sly dance with Carmelita, but he can't get into the ball with just a tux."

I rolled my eyes, "Oh, the irony. But what does that have to do with me?"

"Sly would look much more… respectable… if he were escorting someone."

… Oh.

"No."

"Hey, hear us out!"

"Hell no. Escort Neyla she helped you in Paris, right?" I asked. Unlike Murray, Bentley's diary _was_ a good source of information.

"Too many people would wonder where Neyla picked up a beau." Bentley continued, "And by himself Sly looks… like someone trying to steal something. _You_ look respectable. You know how to dance too, which will be useful."

"What part of 'no' don't you understand?" How did he know I knew how to dance?

A thin, white box was placed on my lap. I blinked and gave Sly a look. He tapped the lid.

"One of the guests was yelling at her sister that she'd got a dress a size too small. I took the liberty of… borrowing it. But, hey, if you don't want it…" He made to take it back; I yanked it out of his reach.

"I never said that!" I opened the box and stood as I grasped the straps of the dress, letting gravity unfold the cloth. It was sheer, silvery white satin, throwing off the light in a simple, but elegant way. The neck was cut like a halter, and, unfortunately, it looked like it was just my size, if a bit long. Nothing high-heels couldn't fix.

I stared at Bentley and Sly for a long moment. I had a distinct weakness for bribery and it sucked that they'd stumbled upon it. I sighed, "If you can get shoes to match it, you have a deal."

* * *

><p>I grumbled as I tugged straps over my ankles. How Sly had managed it I'll never know, but somehow he had and I was going to the ball.<p>

Life officially sucked.

The worst part was who was at the ball. If he recognized me, he would go for Cooper right then and there, then Bentley and Murray would get away. If that happened I had no delusions that within a week of returning home that news wouldn't eventually get out that Sly had been busted out of jail. It would be useless unless all three were caught at the same time.

Sly came over to me, dressed in tux and smiling a victorious smile, "Ready?" He offered his hand.

I used it to steady myself as I stood (I was always initially awkward on heels, especially ones this tall), before dropping it like it was acid, "You can still back out of this you know. There's a whole lot of cops at the party. A whispered word to one and boom! You're hauled off in chains and a SWAT team is descending on the Safehouse."

He rolled his eyes, "Come on, you know if you did that then the cover of every cop at the party would be blown."

I grumbled to myself, "They have to be blown at _some_ point." Nonetheless, I allowed myself to be led out of the Safehouse and down the path toward the ball.

"Yes, but Rajan would get away with the Clockwerk Wings." Sly had started the sentence lighthearted, but his tone turned grave as he continued.

Not wanting to go into an awkward silence like that, I asked instead, "What's so prestigious about the Clockwerk Wings?"

"They're the symbol of my enemy," Sly said, all serious now, "If you saw the Wings silhouetted against the night sky, it was already too late for you. _Especially_ if your name was Cooper."

"Why'd Clockwerk have it out for your family?" I asked after Sly had shown his (forged) invitation to the guards at the bridge.

"Well," he began as we started out again, "The best I can figure, my ancestors bested him in a thieving contest of some kind and he couldn't admit defeat. Over time his hatred for my family grew, he replaced his mortal body with soulless machinery so he wouldn't die until he'd fulfilled his 'life purpose', to wipe out my family's line."

Sly gave a bitter smile as he continued, absently running his fingers over a place on his right shoulder, "He nearly succeeded too, when the gang and I caught up to him two years ago. In fact, if it hadn't been for Carmelita, he probably would have."

I tripped and would have busted my head open on the stairs we were climbing if I hadn't caught myself at the last second, "Inspector Fox?" I asked in a hushed whisper, wary of the guards patrolling the streets nearby.

Cooper grinned at my obvious surprise, "Yup, she helped us after we helped her and gave me a ten second head start once Clockwerk was defeated." He chuckled, "I think she's still mad at me for that."

"I heard about that." I said, now giving the raccoon to my right a wary stare, "The report says that she hadn't caught you because through certain events she had been handcuffed to a rail and by the time she dug out her keys and unlocked herself, your gang was long gone." I smiled at the guards, who bowed slightly as we passed towards the entrance to the ball, "How the hell did you manage that?"

Since I wasn't facing him at the time, I missed his maniacal grin, "Oh no, that's privileged information right there. You'd have to tell me a secret of yours if I told you that."

"Shoot, I don't have many secrets." Complete lie.

"Oh," He dropped his voice to a conspiratory whisper, "I'm sure there's something worth telling."

I swallowed, "Nope, nothing comes to mind."

Sly rolled his eyes at me, "Everyone has a secret-"

"Shh," I shushed him as a slat in the door we had just come to opened. Two beady little eyes looked out at us and zeroed in on Sly.

"You got an invite, 'sir'?" The man behind the door asked in a mocking tone.

"Of course," Sly answered smoothly, producing the piece of paper from some secret pocket inside his tux, "We're here for the dance."

"Come on in," the door swung open after the guard had examined the paper, "The dancing just started."

* * *

><p>The party was fairly ritzy, I could tell that at a glance.<p>

People were dancing on the floor, a tango coming to an end. Waiters were everywhere, offering drinks and hors d'oeuvres to any guest they passed.

The undercover officers Bentley had identified were good at their jobs. I spotted the spider mingling with a few of the other guests, Neyla was engaged in small talk with Rajan (he was really, really, really, big once I saw him in person), Inspector Fox and the husky were out on the dance floor, stepping easily in time with the music.

The dance came to a close and everyone applauded, the band immediately striking up a waltz.

Cooper turned to me and offered his arm, "May I have this dance?"

I rolled my eyes at the cheesiness, but took his arm anyway. Off to the dance floor we went.

"So," he began as we started through the first steps of the dance, "You ever going to tell me?"

"I'll write it down. In my will." I stated stubbornly, "You know, I'm surprised you can actually dance."

"You wound my ego," he said, leading expertly, "There are far too many heists that couldn't be pulled off without inside information. Most of those heists happen to be at nice balls."

I rolled my eyes, "Excuse my ignorance, your worship." Ah, sarcasm.

Thus, sarcastic and witty quips continued throughout the entire waltz, which quickly came to an end. I went off to observe as Sly went to find Neyla, needing to dance with one more person to impress Carmelita.

I had selected some weird cracker and cheese contraption that looked far too fancy for its own good and nibbled on it tentatively as I swept my gaze around the room. Sly had found Neyla and they were heading for the dance floor as a tango started up. Carmelita was watching them, as planned, talking to the Contessa at the same time. I couldn't see the husky, though.

There was a tap on my shoulder.

I turned around and came nose to chest with someone. I looked up slowly, and who should be looking down at me but the very husky I'd looked for? He offered his hand and, just as Sly had, and asked for the dance.

I took it, feeling my heart try to force its way through my chest. Out onto the dance floor yet again, cue inevitable conversation.

"What the _hell_, Kaia?"

"Was it really that easy to tell it was me?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm the one who taught you how to dance after all; you're still horribly unbalanced on heels."

"Well, nobody _else_ can tell!"

"You mean except Cooper. What were you thinking? If your dad had come like he requested, Cooper's brains would be splattered on the wall in six different directions. You are _sooooo_ lucky the higher ups sent me instead."

"Aw, shut up Uncle John, I already _know_ that. Do the other cops know it's me?"

"No, but unless you give me a very good reason not to say something, Cooper is getting arrested the second this dance ends."

"You'll blow your cover. Besides, if you arrest him now, the others are going to get away and break him out within the week."

"He won't if he's in the Contessa's prison."

"Oh, my bad, he'll be out within a _month_. You try having a conversation with Bentley, you'll be just as convinced."

"On a first name basis with the kidnappers? Ever heard of-"

"If you say Stockholm Syndrome, I will strangle you with your tie."

"_Someone's_ defensive."

"_Uncle John…._"

"If you don't want to arrest him now, then when?"

"They're planning something tomorrow, I'll find out what, but I do know that Cooper's going to try to dance with Carmelita as a distraction, but don't tell her it's him or she'll try to arrest him on the spot. You'll have to wait until they've done whatever they're planning and catch them on the getaway."

He stared down at me. He looked just like my dad, if a bit younger. He was also in the FBI, my dad's kid brother. He'd been around so much when I was little, he was more like an older sibling than anything else.

"Okay, I'll trust you to tell me when, but be careful Kaia. Even if they seem nice, all of the Cooper gang are criminals."

I flushed angrily, "I know that!"

He held up his hands in surrender as he dropped me off near the entrance at the end of the song, "All right, I believe you." With the speed that had earned him many an award in chasing down runners, he used sleight of hand to put a bobby pin behind my right ear that had a tiny speaker attached. It looked like he was merely putting a stray strand of hair back in place, "You're wired. Let me know when."

I nodded, smiling up at him. "I will. Thanks Uncle John."

He waved and faded back into the crowd. I composed myself as Cooper came up to me, thinly veiled suspicion in his eyes.

"What did he want?" he asked, nodding toward the direction Uncle John had retreated.

I shrugged, fabricating a lie quickly, "I dunno. He just asked small talk questions. Who I was, who you were, why we were here. By the way, you're the CEO of a lesser known but very successful import-export business and I'm your cousin. It would've been more believable to say wife, given our lack of resemblance, but the absence of a wedding ring and my age makes that difficult."

Sly stared, then shook his head with a tiny smile as if to say 'of course'. "You came up with all that at the drop of a hat? Bentley's right, you're a good liar."

I raised an eyebrow, "I'll take that as a compliment… I think. Can we go now?"

We slipped out unseen, Cooper wanted to leave an air of 'mysterious allure' behind him. Ego much?

Anyway, the walk back to the Safehouse was a fairly quiet affair. I was lost in my thoughts of having to come up with the opportune moment for the police to strike and Sly was also being suspiciously silent. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye and saw that his brow was wrinkled in thought as well.

That was a bad sign.

I sighed as we started to cross the bridge the guards let down for us over the moat and looked up, smiling at the moon and the stars. Life's simple pleasures.

Then white exploded behind my eyes and my legs buckled.

I tried to catch myself with just a stumble, but I heard something crack and my right leg folded underneath me and I fell with it.

Wind whistled through my hair and roaring filled my ears, then it just… stopped.

I blinked to clear my vision and found myself staring down at the water rushing under the moat. I was somehow being suspended over it by something around my waist. Whatever the something was yanked me back and suddenly I was sitting on the wood of the bridge, looking into brown eyes.

"Hey! Everything alright down there?"

Sly looked up at one of the guards on the wall who had shouted down at us, "Yeah, this klutz here just tripped, don't worry."

"Hey!" I knocked him on the head, "Who's a klutz?"

He caught my hand, "You. You even broke your shoes."

"Huh?" I looked down at my foot and saw that he was right, the heel on my right shoe was broken nearly clean off, only dangling by a little piece of fabric. "Well, by Jove, would you look at that?" Huh, my ankle kind of hurt, and was the world spinning or was that just me?

The next thing I knew, the world was moving in a totally different way.

"Hey! Put me down!" I smacked Cooper's shoulder with a lot less force than I would have if the world would just stop _moving_.

"Not a chance," He had a weird expression on his face. "You can't walk with just one shoe and if I'm not mistaken you twisted your ankle, didn't you?"

"Um…" Was that why it hurt so bad? It was difficult to tell.

He looked down at me now, "Okay, now I _know_ something's wrong with you. Where's your snippy comeback?"

I smacked him again, I couldn't really think of anything else to do. "Shut up, I'm tired." I kind of was. And Cooper was really warm. I could probably just doze off right then and…

Sly shook me, "None of that." Somehow we'd gotten to the Safehouse and he dumped me in one of those fold up chairs, "Hey, Bentley!"

Bentley emerged from one of the little tunnels in the cave, "Yeah, Sly?"

Sly indicated me with his thumb, "Jinx here has more bad luck than we realized; she fainted, twisted her ankle, and almost fell into the moat in the space of two seconds."

"Hey, don't call me that!" Huh, this room was spinning too, "And I didn't faint!" Bentley came over and started poking around on my head. He poked where I'd hit my head on Murray's chair earlier and I flinched, "Ow!"

"You hit your head harder than you said, didn't you?" Sly accused.

"Nooo…"

"Is this dried blood?" Bentley asked, combing through my hair with his fingers and seeing little red flakes fall out. Thanks a lot Bentley, see if I send you a Christmas card, "It's a miracle you were able to dance without losing your balance if you hit it that hard."

I rolled my eyes, "I am _fine_. Mind over matter is a proven concept."

"Not when you have a concussion," Sly countered.

"I don't have a concussion!" I snapped, losing my patience.

We argued for a bit until Bentley told us to shut up, sent the raccoon out on his next mission and me to bed with an ice pack. Just perfect.

While lying awake, I came to a conclusion that I really wish I'd never had. From what I could piece together, I'd come close to losing consciousness on the bridge and had fallen. I'd tried to catch myself, but broke the heel off my shoe in the process. I would have fallen into the moat and drowned, but I'd been caught.

All this to realize… Sly Cooper had saved my life.

* * *

><p>The next morning, when I woke up, Sly, Bentley, and Murray were all asleep in the main room of the cave. Yay me.<p>

I snuck out quietly, my ankle barely hurt and my head was fairly clear. I could do this.

The drawbridge was up, so I went to the edge of the waterfall. After an adrenaline pumping encounter with a snake, I found myself staring at the conical rocks Bentley had said could be crossed using the Ninja Spire Jump.

I swallowed hard, braced myself, and jumped. The theory behind the Ninja Spire Jump was to curl your feet around whatever sharp point you were trying to land on and balance yourself with your legs, which was easier said than done.

I managed to cross, but my feet cramped on the last rock and I almost fell. How Sly managed to do it with shoes on was beyond me, I had to cross barefoot and wasn't looking forward to the return trip.

The guards weren't out in such force during the day, so I only had to duck around corners a few times to avoid being caught on my way to the guest house. When I arrived, I prowled along the edge of the roof, trying to decide which balcony belonged to my uncle.

God was smiling on me; Uncle John was out on his balcony, smoking a cigarette.

I landed behind him, making a small thud, "Smoking is bad for you, y'know."

He whirled around, pulling his gun out of his jacket, thumbing off the safety, and taking aim all in one movement so smooth it had to be practiced. I froze and, when he realized it was me, he sighed in exasperation and put his gun away again.

"Kaia, don't do stupid things. I almost shot you." He flicked his cigarette into the river, which ran almost directly under his balcony.

"I know, I'm sorry." I walked over to him, "Uncle John, we have a slight snag."

His eyes narrowed, "What do you mean, 'snag'?"

I fidgeted, I hadn't been looking forward to this, "Cooper saved my life last night, I can't help you catch him. At least, not tonight. I owe him that much at least."

He took a deep breath, held it, then let it out slowly, his favorite method of controlling his anger. I walked over to him and leaned on his shoulder.

"Sorry."

He sighed and gave me a half-hug, "No, you're right. He saved you, we return the favor by not arresting him tonight, we'll get him next time." He gave me a stern look, "Even if I don't actively go after him, if Carmelita or Neyla or the Contessa get him, I'm not going to set him free."

"I didn't expect you to." I hugged him as tightly as I could, "Thanks, Uncle John. I have to go before they wake up. Oh," I fished the bobby pin out from behind my ear, "Here, you'll need this back."

He shook his head, "No, keep it." He showed me a little button on it, "If you need to turn it off or on, you can press that, I want you to have it in case of an emergency."

I shrugged, conceding, and turned it off, putting it back in my hair. "Kay. I love you." I waved and took off for the Safehouse.

* * *

><p>Murray was awake when I got back, but the other two were, thankfully, still asleep, "Hey, Kaia! Where'd you go?"<p>

Silently offering a prayer of thanks that it wasn't Bentley or Sly, I answered, "I went for some fresh air and came back because there were so many snakes. I never thought I'd see a cobra outside the Discovery channel."

"Ha! The villainous snakes do not scare, 'The Murray'!"

_Yes,_ I thought to myself as I listened to Murray prattle on, _I'm very thankful it wasn't Bentley or Sly._

* * *

><p>Later that night, I was shaken awake by Sly once again, "Rise and shine, beautiful. Time to wow the guests."<p>

I glared, ignoring the 'beautiful' comment, and pried myself out of bed, combing my fingers through my hair, "Sly, my shoes broke."

A pair of silver ballet slippers was dropped into my lap, "I know."

I glared again and shoved my blankets back. So much for getting sleep, "Alright, alright, I'm coming."

I got dressed, tamed my hair, and tried on the slippers, which, of course, fit perfectly. Either Bentley had found my shoe size, or Cooper was just freaking weird.

Personally, I opted for the latter.

I stepped into the main chamber, yawning and found Bentley hard at work on his computer. Sly was looking over something in the Thievius Raccoonus and Murray was pulling on his gloves.

"Heist time already?" I asked, incredulously.

Bentley nodded, "It was a rush to put together, but I feel mostly confident about it. Murray, Sly, you ready?"

"Let's rock!"

"Let's roll."

I rolled my eyes, "Let's go."

* * *

><p>"Just stay here," Sly told me. We were near a side door of the ball room, the heist had already begun, I could even feel the beginning of Bentley's bridge blasts through the thin dance slippers, "Once you see Murray come down on the winch, get out of here before things get crazy. But if my distraction isn't doing the job, drop a couple of these in the punch bowl on your way out." He dropped a couple of little firecrackers into my hands.<p>

I gaped at him, "Are you serious?"

He grinned, making exploding gestures with his hands, "It would be a shame if the only thing that went 'boom' was Bentley's bridge."

I tried to hold back giggles as he slipped away to the dance floor. Devious raccoon.

I was pacing around, engaging in a little small talk when I couldn't avoid it, when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around… and promptly used all of my self control to keep my jaw from dropping. Rajan was standing behind me.

"Are you enjoying the party, Miss?" he asked, every inch the gracious host.

I managed to twist my facial expression into a demure smile, inwardly reciting "The Raven" to keep myself calm, "Very much, Lord Rajan. Your palace is magnificent!" I really, really, hoped I had gotten the honorific right.

From the smile on his face, I had, "I'm glad to hear it. I saw you dancing with that husky fellow yesterday. If you don't mind my saying so, you're quite graceful."

Mentally, I'd moved on to listing all the presidents in order, "You flatter me, Lord Rajan."

He extended a large hand, "It would be a pleasure to dance with you."

My inward list of the noble gases came to a screeching halt. Oh, dear. Several thoughts flew through my head in an instant. The first being, Murray was already on the winch, I could see the flash of pink from the corner of my eye. The second being that I couldn't refuse Rajan without making him suspicious. The third being that this could be a very beneficial distraction.

I put my hand in his, "The pleasure would be mine."

I caught both Cooper's eye and Uncle John's as I went out onto the dance floor. Cooper was shocked, Uncle John was outright horrified. I conveyed with my own glance to each that it was _so_ not my idea.

I had thought it would be awkward, dancing with someone twice my size, but it really wasn't. It reminded me of dancing with Uncle John when I was little, which made me relax enough to dance easily. Rajan kept up conversation the entire time, which also gave help to the relaxation.

But all good things came to an end when he said, "By the way, my dear, have you seen my latest acquisition, the Clockwerk Wings? I assure you, they are truly…" Then he turned to look at the Wings, but only the statue that he had welded them onto remained. He squeezed the hand he held so hard I lost feeling in it, before dropping it and throwing his hands up in fury, "The Wings! They are gone!"

"Oh, my!" I covered my mouth with my hands, both to look appropriately shocked and to hide my ear-splitting grin.

"Cooper!" That was Carmelita.

As my best friend would say: Time to make like a tree and leaf.

I bolted for the side door, tossing the firecrackers into the punch bowl as I went. I heard a wet explosion behind me and a few female screams. Ah, mayhem.

* * *

><p><strong>SKREEE!<strong>

Thud!

"Murray! Is there any way you can get away and not kill us in the process?"

"Probably not!"

I have discovered that being in the back of the Cooper van, during the getaway process, with no seatbelt, is an effective way to commit suicide.

Now, you see, in the back of the van was all of Bentley's equipment (packed away in containers so they didn't get hurt even if I ran headfirst into them, which I did… often), the necessities to set up a Safehouse, the Clockwerk Tailfeathers, and now the Clockwerk Wings.

You can see where I might have a problem with Murray taking 5G turns while he and Bentley were safe up front, with seatbelts. At least Sly had to share in my misery.

Another turnabout flung me to the opposite side of the van, where I crashed into one of the Clockwerk Tailfeathers and probably lost half a kidney. Something heavy landed on top of me.

"We've got to stop meeting like this."

I barely had time to shove Sly off before having to grab tightly to the back of the only thing bolted to the floor of the van, the front seat, to avoid yet another contusion.

_"Give yourselves up, you are surrounded. We are authorized to use lethal force. You hear that, Cooper? LETHAL FORCE!"_

Sly leaned out the window and waved at the helicopter, "That Carmelita, such a sweet talker." He barely managed to pull his head in before a shock pistol bolt electrified him.

"Can you 'sweet talk' her out of shooting at us?" I demanded crossly, trying harder to anchor myself to the front seat.

"No," Bentley answered for him, tossing Sly a small canister, "But you might be able to."

"Close your eyes," Cooper said.

I barely managed to get out a 'Huh?' before he pulled the pin on the canister and steam blasted into my face. I coughed and shook my head as the steam dissipated, "What is your problem?"

"Hold your arms up."

Sensing that I'd get no other answers until we were out of this mess, I held my arms straight over my head and Sly pulled one of my shirts down to cover my dress.

"Just lean out the window."

"What? Going Mach 3? Not a chance!"

I don't even know how Sly managed to shove my head and shoulders through the window, but he did. I caught a glimpse of myself in the rearview mirror and saw why.

My disguise had been steamed off my face, my fur was now just as white as it was supposed to be and the shirt made me look exactly as I had when I'd initially met the Cooper gang. I bristled, they were trying to get away by using me as a hostage!

I yelped when Sly shoved me forward from behind, even though he was still holding onto me to keep me from falling. I squinted up at the bright lights of the helicopter above us.

_"Cease fire!"_

I was yanked back into the van and turned around to see Sly's grinning face, "See? That wasn't so-"

I slapped him.

* * *

><p>Mwaha, I have updated! Yaaaay! I hope everyone enjoys this somewhat mediocre chapter. Please review and God Bless!<p> 


	5. Apologies and More Explosions

Can I just say that I love you guys? Seriously, I haven't been on ff dot net regularly for over two years now and I forgot how nice it was to know that people look forward to reading something I write. It's awesome. You guys are awesome. Yay!

On with the chapter!

* * *

><p>Sly sat backwards on a chair, staring blankly at Kaia's door.<p>

They had escaped the cops and managed to find a hotel with a couple of empty rooms, at which point Kaia snatched her key, slammed the door to her adjoining room and refused to come out, even for dinner.

"Why is she so mad at us?" Sly asked Bentley, who rolled his eyes and sighed.

"She's not mad at _us_, she's mad at _you_." The turtle informed him as his fingers flew over the keyboard of his laptop, "You're the one that used her against the police."

The raccoon looked over at his friend, "That's why?"

"Well, there's that and the fact that you kidnapped her, drugged her, and-"

"Hey- you helped!" Sly sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Well, how do I get her to stop being mad?"

Bentley gave him a 'You expect me to know that?' look, "She's a girl Sly, the female thought process is illogical at best."

Brown eyes looked at him miserably, "Then what am I supposed to do?"

The turtle shrugged, "That you'll have to figure out yourself."

The next day, Sly began his attempts to get out of the doghouse.

* * *

><p><strong>Knock, knock, knock!<strong>

"What?"

"It's me."

"Go away."

"I have pancakes."

"No."

"And strawberries with cream."

"No."

"I even begged the staff out of some ice cream!"

"No."

"Come on!"

* * *

><p><strong>Knock, knock, knock.<strong>

"Kaia, we're going to try to sneak Murray onto the set of a musical!"

"… Are you serious?"

"Yes!"

"Hmm…"

Baited breath.

"No."

* * *

><p><strong>Knock, knock, knock.<strong>

"For the love of- I was sleeping! I don't care what scheme you have now, it won't work!"

"Kaia, I am going to stand here and beat on your door until you open it!"

I growled to myself, he really would stand out there all night. I slid out of my bed and onto the floor, padding over and opening the door a crack, "What do you want?"

A dark hand wormed its way through the crack and pulled the door the rest of the way open. "To say I'm sorry." Sly said, stepping into the room, "I shouldn't have used you against the police like that, okay? I just- well I… here." He took my hand and placed a jewelry box in it, then immediately shoved his hands back into his pockets, "I got that for you."

I glanced down at the innocent-looking box curiously. It was small, it fit easily in the palm of my hand and it was covered in the cheap red fabric that many such boxes are. It opened with a 'click' and revealed a silver necklace with a small pendant in the shape of an oval that had a green-gold stone set in it. On the back of the pendant was a large 'K' in loopy, elegant calligraphy.

"I figured you'd like that color best, since it matches your eyes." Cooper said, shifting nervously.

Okay, I admit it… that was kind of cute.

I smiled and held it up to the light. "Thank you, I really like it." I lifted my gaze from the pendant for just a moment as looked him in the eye. "And you're forgiven."

All the tension and awkwardness in his body seemed to melt away in one breathy sigh of relief. His posture slackened, his eyes focused, and his languid smile made a dramatic comeback, "You really had me worried there. I always thought the phrase 'Hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn.' was an exaggeration."

"Hey, just be glad I never actively sought to make you miserable, elsewise you would've been royally screwed." I fumbled with the clasp of the necklace, "Hey, could you help me get this on?"

"Sure," he moved so silent and gracefully that I hardly knew he'd moved till he'd plucked the necklace out of my hands and was behind me.

When he'd finished, I went to crawl back into bed and he went back to his and the gang's room. He paused in the doorway for a moment, though.

"Hey, Jinx?"

"Mmm?"

"You really planning to turn us in?"

Maybe I paused too long in my reply.

"Every second of every day."

Sly Cooper was one of those people who could verbally convey a smile with next to no effort.

"Liar."

"Thief."

* * *

><p>I'm not quite sure what woke me at five a.m. three days later. Perhaps it was the fact that Murray usually woke then and I was used to having to try to ignore his vain attempts not to make noise as he took a shower before heading downstairs. Or maybe it was that I didn't have my curtains all the way closed and the street light was right in my face when I rolled over in my sleep. Or perhaps I had just subconsciously sensed that something was amiss. Whatever it was, I'm eternally grateful for it.<p>

I peeled my eyes apart when I couldn't get back to sleep and saw the first smidge of blue-grey in the clouds that indicated coming dawn. I'd always like that time of the morning best, so I crawled out of bed and parted the curtains. I smiled up at the sky, then looked down…

… and saw Cooper putting Bentley's equipment in the back of the van

I didn't think, I just acted.

I grabbed my backpack and shoved my clothes, my toothbrush, and my contact case inside. I stepped into my shoes, only getting them half-on before I bolted out the door. I passed right by the elevator and headed straight for the stairs, flying down them and jumping the last flight.

When I reached the first floor I heard a familiar engine rumble to life and knew I couldn't catch them before they passed out of the parking lot. I slammed up against the side door, forcing it open and concealing myself in some bushes.

It's true, one thinks best under adrenaline. There was a stop sign in front of those bushes. The lock for the back door of the van was broken. My mind analyzed the facts and I had a strategy more quickly than I'd ever thought possible. Sure enough, Murray stopped completely at the sign, ever a good driver. I lunged out of the bushes and threw the door open, flinging myself inside just as the vehicle started moving again.

The acceleration momentum almost threw me back out, but a hand gripping the back of my shirt prevented that. When I opened my eyes Sly was reaching across me to pull the van door closed. Bentley groaned into the case that held his laptop, which he clutched like it would solve all his problems.

The doors safely closed, Sly looked down at me, surprise on his features. He opened his mouth, but I threw my hand over it to shut him up. "Don't," I panted out, my other hand on my chest, willing my pounding heart to slow, "Don't start yelling at me until I have enough breath to yell back."

He pulled out of my reach, but I was close enough to feel him chuckle. "I was just going to say you have the worst bed-hair I've ever seen." He reached out and tried vainly to smooth down some of the poof that had been brought to my attention.

I blushed and smacked his hand away, "It's too early for this!"

Sly always looked like hell first thing in the morning, and I didn't have my contacts in so I couldn't really be sure of what I saw, but right then I could have sworn that he looked almost… relieved…

* * *

><p>"An old temple?" I mumbled at Bentley around my cup of coffee.<p>

He nodded, "Rajan seems to have holed himself up there, producing spice like crazy with the Clockwerk heart."

I rolled my eyes skyward, "This is sounding more and more like a video game."

"A video game?" Murray asked with his mouth full of French fries.

"This I have to hear," Sly said, on my other side. We were currently stopped at some city I couldn't pronounce the name of, eating McDonald's. Yup, McDonald's was in India. It's taken over the world, I tell you! At least it has decent coffee sometimes. "How on Earth is this like a video game?"

"Well, you know…" I mumbled, nibbling on a fry, "The different locations are like levels and the guys you steal from are like bosses you have to fight at the end of the level."

"But we didn't fight Rajan," Bentley pointed out, "We just robbed him blind." Pride colored his voice. He may not have seemed it, but of the gang's thieving reputation, Bentley was probably the most proud.

"Because he has another Clockwerk Part," I said, pointing my wilted stub of a potato in Bentley's direction, as if it proved something, "Ergo, new level."

Beside me, Cooper was shaking his head, a stupid grin on his face, "Well, what do you know? Jinx is a gamer. You learn something new every day."

I elbowed him in the ribs, "I told you not to call me that."

He inched out of range, "And I ignored you. But wouldn't your theory mean that this is a sequel game? Two years ago is when we defeated Clockwerk."

"Come to think of it," Bentley said, sounding far away, "The events back then kind of describe the pattern Kaia just came up with."

"Then Clockwerk was the final boss!" Murray exclaimed once he was done chewing, seeming proud of himself for picking up on the pattern.

Sly frowned, "Then who's the final boss in this game?"

Everyone exchanged a wary look.

I tried to sound nonchalant, "There may not be one. After all, the goal of this game is to collect all the Clockwerk Parts, right? Once you do that in most games either something will go horribly wrong, or there'll be a cool cinematic, then the credits."

Bentley rolled his eyes, "This is ridiculous, are we actually having this conversation?"

Sly reached over the table and prodded him, "Come on, you know you like the idea of being in a video game!"

Bentley's cheeks darkened, but his tone stayed exactly the same, "What would it even be called?"

"Pack of Misfits? Ow!" I rubbed my arm, where Sly had pinched me, "What was that for?"

"Giving my video game such a stupid name!"

I gaped at him, "_Your _game?"

"Yeah! Picture this!" He slung an arm over my shoulder and waved his hand, as if miming a huge banner, "Sly Cooper 2: Band of Thieves!"

I dug my heel into his foot and clambered off the bench we were on, making a splendid retreat towards the playground, "Yeah, congrats, Cooper! Your video game may be the only one in history without a love interest!"

He looked stunned for a moment, before his features morphed into something altogether an unhealthy mixture of mischievousness and evil, "Is that so?"

"Yeah! I mean, even Pacman has Ms. Pacman!"

"Well, then, I'll just have to _steal_ myself a love interest, now won't I?" Sly stood, then folded his arms and tapped his chin, looking around, "Now where can I find a single girl…?" His eyes landed on me and the expression was back and he was pushing his sleeves up his arms, "Oh, look at that! I found one!"

I stuck my tongue out at him, turning on my heel, "You'll have to catch me first!"

* * *

><p>Murray watched Kaia and Sly chased each other around the playground, then looked at Bentley, "Sly's going to be really sad when Kaia has to leave for good, isn't he?"<p>

Bentley sighed, "Probably. That's why I tried to leave her here. We're just going to get more attached the longer she's around. She's like a fungus, she just grows on you, whether you want her to or not."

"She's fun though. I wish she could stay." Now Kaia was pelting Sly with balls from the ball pit.

"I guess it's not so bad to have someone around that I can have an intellectual conversation with," Bentley admitted, "But there's no chance she can stay with us. She's just too much of a wild card."

"Murray!" Sly shouted as he emerged victorious from the playground, managing to keep his grip on the hybrid even though she was pummeling his back with her fists, "Get the van! This calls for a dramatic exit!"

"You got it, Sly!"

"Put me down or I'll bite your ear!"

"No you won't- Ow! Wolf teeth! Wolf teeth!"

* * *

><p>"We have to hike to the temple?" I grumbled as Sly handed me a backpack loaded down with tech equipment.<p>

"Hey, you're the one who refused to stay at the hotel," he grinned at me, "Now you have to pull your weight."

"It'll be fun!" Murray said, hefting the biggest machete I'd ever seen.

I gaped at him, "Murray, I think your definition of fun and my definition of fun are two_ very_ different things."

"Alright," Bentley said, looking around the van one last time to make sure he didn't forget any 'vital' electronics, "Let's go."

The jungle was hot, humid, and mucky. I also saw about five poisonous snakes in the first ten minutes, but we didn't really hit a huge problem until a few miles in.

Bentley slipped on some grass on a downhill slope and skidded down to the bottom, landing on a patch devoid of plant life. And then he started to sink. "Quicksand!" he yelped, staying perfectly still, showcasing his quick thinking under pressure.

I have never seen anyone or anything move as fast as Sly did in that moment; he dropped what he was carrying and ran to the quicksand. Bentley was really small and sinking fast, he didn't have enough time to find anything like a rope. He jumped to Bentley and pulled him out, throwing him to safety just beyond the patch of sand. In the process, he sank up to his knees.

By this time, Murray and I had caught up. The hippo caught Bentley and I started looking for something to pull Sly out with. There! About halfway up a tree, I saw a long vine draped over a branch. I grabbed the machete from where Murray had dropped it and, without giving myself time to freak out, kicked off my shoes and socks and scaled the tree, extending my claws to help me grip it.

I cut the vine down and threw it to Murray, who threw it to Sly, who had sunk up to his waist. When I got back down, I rushed over in front of Murray and started pulling as well.

Sly was about a yard and a half from safety when the vine snapped in the middle.

I lunged forward and just managed to catch his forearms before he whiplashed backward out of reach, sunk up to his chest. I almost fell in myself, but Murray grabbed me and held on. I even felt Bentley latch onto one of my ankles as an anchor when my feet lifted off the ground.

For one horrible instant, I felt my grip on Sly slip, but then my eyes locked onto his and I sank my teeth into my bottom lip. Praying he'd forgive me for it later, I flexed my hands and felt my claws sink into his arms. He winced at the same time I did, but now my grip was solid.

Then I was being pulled backward and landed heavily on my back, which knocked the air from my lungs. Sly, coated in thick glop, was splayed out over my legs, coughing.

I scrambled into a sitting position and retracted my claws as Bentley and Murray surrounded Sly on both sides, helping him to sit and get his bearings.

Letting them have their 'OMG, you nearly _died_' moment, I went to where I had dumped my bags and rummaged around until I found some first aid supplies.

"Sly, let me see your arms." I said, sitting in front of him and taking the top off the antiseptic. I winced when I saw the bloody holes on his arms, but thankfully they had appeared between his gloves and sleeves, so I didn't have to worry about clothing fibers getting stuck in the wounds. "Sorry about this," I said, pouring the antiseptic on the wounds.

He winced, but then did his best to grin at me, "Better than suffocation. On a separate note, don't you ever cut your nails?"

I raised the hand that wasn't affixing gauze to his injuries and flexed my claws, tipped with blood, "Why would I when they come in so handy?"

He chuckled, "Touché," as soon as I finished bandaging his arms, he leaned forward without warning and I felt lips brush against my forehead, "Thanks for coming after me."

I tried not to blush as I stood and offered him a hand, "Don't get used to it."

He laughed outright at that, "Sure, sure."

* * *

><p>Our new Safehouse was in a snake shaped statue about fifty feet off the ground. And the best part was that the only way to really get up there was on this mega-trampoline thing disguised to look like a mushroom. The gang got a kick out of me turning green from fear getting up there.<p>

Wait.

Hold up.

Did I just say 'our' Safehouse?

I did, didn't I? Ugh, this was getting out of hand. This had to be the last heist. I had to get Uncle John to get the Cooper gang here, before I became any more attached to them. It was getting into the annoying stages, but I definitely still didn't have Stockholm Syndrome, no matter what Sly said.

When Bentley left on his own mission, I finally got my chance. Murray was doing some work on the van and Sly was on the way back from one of his missions, so I had a short window of opportunity.

I took the small two-way radio from behind my ear and pressed the small button Uncle John had showed me and hurriedly replaced it. There was a crackle of static, then I heard his voice.

_"Kaia?"_

"Hey-ya, Uncle John. Listen I don't have much time."

_"Understood, what's your position?"_

One thing I loved about my uncle, he didn't beat around the bush.

"Some old temple ruins in a jungle in India. Bentley wasn't very clear, but it's definitely rainforest and it's been pouring out here for the last three days. There's also a giant snake statue there and the temple is in the shape of a giant elephant."

There was silence for a moment, then, _"The computer says there's already an operation underway in those particular ruins by Constable Neyla."_

"Do you trust her?"

_"No."_ His response was immediate, _"She doesn't seem trustworthy at all. I'm not truly convinced that she's even on our side."_

"That's what I thought. Something about her bugs me. Keep an eye on her, will you?"

_"As much as I can."_

* * *

><p>"You're going to blow up the dam!" I gaped at Bentley, then immediately entered begging mode, "Can I come? Please can I come? Oh please, oh please, oh please, can I come?"<p>

His eye twitched. I don't think he was expecting that kind of reaction. "I was actually just going to have Sly fire the turret while I fly the helicopter-"

Bentley's computer made some kind of static noise that apparently meant someone was trying to communicate with him via binocucom.

_"Bentley! Neyla showed me a way into the spice grinder, I'm going to get the first half of the Clockwerk heart right now."_

Bentley ran over to give Sly some info on the structure of the grinder, then turned back to me, where I was trying not to grin too widely, "You can come only if you swear to do _exactly_ what I say!"

After hearing from Sly I had a feeling we wouldn't be the only ones blowing something up.

Getting to the helicopter wasn't actually that hard, even if Bentley did look like he was about to throw up whenever a guard came within a hundred yards of us. We made our way to a large truck and Bentley blew off the back so we could hop in and lift up just as the alarm was raised.

Now, I hate heights, but flying in that helicopter was actually a ton of fun. Bentley flew while I had control of the turret. Rajan had other helicopters and they tried to shoot us down, but I was able to destroy all but one missile, which barely grazed us.

Unfortunately it took a while to blow the dam completely because of the helicopters. I had to keep a majorly close eye on them.

Just when the dam broke and I was feeling so accomplished… Bentley crashed the helicopter into a tower.

I'm not sure whether it's bad luck or good that when the helicopter got stuck in the roof of the tower Bentley and I were thrown into its staircase. It was either that or be stuck on top of the tower with no way down, so probably good.

"Well, that certainly could have gone better. Let's get out of here."

"Urgh… give me a second to make the world stop spinning." I mumbled, clutching at the back of my head. "My poor abused head…"

"How hard did you hit it?"

"Hard enough," I muttered, getting to my feet and starting down the stairs after him, "But in case you haven't noticed, my head meeting solid objects is hardly a rarity."

Bentley shushed me frantically as we approached the exit of the tower. There were a half dozen guards outside, peering up at the top, wondering what had crashed but not venturing into the dilapidated building to find out.

From a compartment on the front of his armor plate, Bentley produced a small, circular device and a remote. He gave me a kind of creepy grin, like 'watch this', and tossed the electronic into the mass of guards. When they hurried around to get a look at the blinking red light on the device, the turtle pressed a button on his remote.

I had no idea something so small could make such a huge explosion.

"Come on!"

Using the confusion to our advantage, we took off, heading back for the Safehouse.

* * *

><p>My first sighting when I opened my eyes was the blue-green rock of the Safehouse ceiling. I tried to sit up, but a hand on my shoulder and what felt like a sledgehammer between my eyes soon had me back on the sleeping bag.<p>

"Slowly, Jinx, slowly. I swear, you have the worst luck of anyone I've ever met. Can't you go a week without a head injury?"

"Don't call me Jinx." I muttered, squinting up at Sly. "You're soaking wet. Is it still raining outside?"

"Of course it is, we're in a rainforest!" Bentley snapped from his computer just before the furious sound of typing reached my ears.

"Don't mind him." Sly had leaned further down to whisper in my ear, "He was worried sick about you. Said you hit your head and passed out the second you got back to the Safehouse and probably had a concussion and were gonna go into a coma..."

I blinked up at him, still not quite ready to try sitting again, "I didn't pass out. I just laid down 'cause my head hurt. Then I fell asleep."

He grinned and I wondered if it was the head injury that was suddenly making me feel feverish. "Sure you did. I mean, I wasn't there, I'd blown up the spice grinder just when you two crashed, but the second I got out Bentley hailed me on the binocucom and started going on about how to get to the nearest hospital, which, by the way, is one hundred and six miles from here." His face softened a bit, "Next time you go flying around without a seat belt, wear a helmet, won't you?"

I rested my head completely on the sleeping bag, gave Sly a thumbs up, and yawned. I spent the next few hours finding designs in the cave ceiling, until he woke me again sometime later that night.

"We're going to pull off the heist now." He said, giving me a water bottle and some aspirin. "Watch from here and, when the coast is clear, make a break for the van, got it?"

I flapped my hand at him and snagged the bottle, "Yeah, yeah, I got it." Glorious, glorious drugs.

* * *

><p>Aha, another chapter up! Sorry this one is shorter, but the massive amount of drama in the next chapter makes up for it, I swear!<p>

Those of you who have played the game know what I'm talking about. Those of you who haven't, what are you doing here? GO PLAY THIS GAME!

Please Review and God Bless!


	6. Betrayals and Sandwiches

Hi, guys!

Those of you who have picked up on my pattern are probably really confused as to why you're getting this chapter almost a week early. This is for two reasons: First, I left you guys off on a bit of a cliffhanger (those of you who've played the game anyhow). Second, I haven't had the best day and getting reviews makes me smile.

You want to make me smile, don't you?

I thought so.

Anyhow, we have a fun chapter ahead of us! And by fun, I mean drama. Yay, drama!

On with the chapter!

* * *

><p>I was reading the only book I had in my bag and thoroughly enjoying myself when I heard the by now unmistakable sound of an explosion. I jumped, shoving my book back into my backpack and swinging it up onto my shoulders before dashing outside.<p>

Bentley had left me a prototype binocucom that wasn't connected to his, Sly's or Murray's so that I would be able to see what was going on. I took it out now and brought it to my eyes.

Sly had managed to blow up something that completely flooded the temple and had evidently flung Rajan headfirst into an impressive rage, considering he was now using his staff to… throw lightning at them? Okay… that probably had something to do with the Clockwerk heart? Yeah, let's go with that.

I turned my gaze to find Sly. He and Murray were talking to… "Is that Neyla?" I zoomed in on the purple tiger head and, sure enough she was talking to Sly and Murray. After a moment, Sly nodded and followed her up to the spikes Rajan was hitting with lightning. What was he thinking?

By using the Ninja Spire Jump in excess, he managed to get across, barely. He shouted something at Neyla, then looked like he was going to go for Rajan. Neyla shook her head and jumped away. Confusion crossed Sly's face and he turned to watch her, shouting something else.

While his back was turned, Rajan hit him with lightning.

For a split second my heart stopped beating. I went cold from the top of my head downs to the pads of my feet.

Sly plummeted, limp and smoking slightly, into what used to be a pond, but was now a concrete basin, his cane flying out of his hands. I pivoted on the spot and flung myself down onto the trampoline, it bounced me back up and sent me sprawling, but I was on my feet again immediately, ignoring a new hole in my old pair of jeans, pelting towards one of the bridges that would lead me up to the temple.

I ran across the bridge and saw Neyla come to stand at the edge of the basin. I put on another burst of speed, thinking only to barrel into her and… and… claw out her eyes or something!

I had to halt and dive sideways, however, when a long spider leg emerged from the bushes. I'd lunged into the entry way to the temple, which appeared to have been made out of bones. I could hear every word Neyla was saying, but couldn't see what was going on.

"There they are Contessa, just as I promised. The Cooper gang and Rajan all incapacitated."

Just as she promised? She'd been planning this the whole time? That was… well, exactly what I'd been trying, but at least I was up front about what I was thinking! What she did was just dirty!

The thought of the hypothetical scenario where I'd been the one to beat the Cooper gang at this game of wits now made me feel a bit sick.

"Excellent police work Constable Neyla! Carmelita's never been able to catch the Cooper Gang, yet you capture them in just a few short weeks!" That voice sent shivers down my spine. There was just something creepy about it.

"Well- I never…" Inspector Fox was here too?

"Really Carmelita, accept your defeat gracefully."

"Actually, there's a good reason Carmelita never captured the Cooper Gang. She's been in league with them the whole time!" Now Neyla was trying to get her competition out of the way too? She was… there were no words.

Well, there were, but I'd have to censor them if I wrote them out.

"Liar! Prove it!"

"This is a picture of Carmelita dancing with Sly Cooper on the night the Clockwerk Wings were stolen."

"But- I didn't know I was dancing with Cooper!"

"You too certainly seem very… familiar in this photo. Guards, place Inspector Fox under arrest!"

"I'll get you for this, Neyla! Don't think I won't!" I heard as Carmelita was lead away. I shared her sentiment wholeheartedly.

I was able to sneak up to the temple in the aftermath of Neyla's 'revelation,' before the majority of the cops appeared on the scene to catalog evidence. I needed to find Bentley. They had Sly and Murray and for some reason were under the impression that that was all of the Cooper Gang.

I made it to the temple entrance and saw something out of the corner of my eye. I looked again and saw a golden glint under the water that now buried the walkway.

I dove in without thinking.

The current was swift, but swimming was one of my few strong suits. I managed to grab Sly's cane and kicked immediately for the surface. He'd kill me if I left it behind.

* * *

><p>I struggled through the jungle in what I hoped was the right direction, clutching Sly's cane closely. The foliage looked the same in all directions, so I could only hope I was heading for the van and wasn't going to get lost and die a horrible death.<p>

I paused for a moment to catch my breath (and to suppress that last thought) and heard some heavy breathing off to my left. I froze, listened harder, and recognized the sound. "Bentley!"

I tore through the bushes and found the turtle, machete raised high, aimed at the undergrowth I'd just emerged from, "Bentley, are you okay?"

His hands were shaking so much, it was hard to take his glare seriously, "What are you doing here?"

I frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Why aren't you with the police?" he spat, looking as though he wanted to murder me, "You called them and led them here somehow, didn't you?"

My heart skipped a beat for the second time and I felt my body grow cold again. Bentley thought I was the cause of this. He thought I'd followed through on what I'd been threatening to do since I was tackled into the back of the van back in Cairo and that I'd come after him because I hadn't managed to catch him in the trap. Really, who could blame him?

But this wasn't the time for regrets… okay, it was, but first I had to convince him that it wasn't my fault.

"Bentley?" I took a small step forward, "Bentley, that wasn't me. That was Neyla, Neyla betrayed Sly so she could take the credit for capturing both him and Rajan and get herself promoted. She didn't know about you, so she thinks she has the whole Cooper Gang, and apparently Inspector Fox hasn't told her otherwise. If it were me, sorry, but you'd be caught too. And I wouldn't have set up Inspector Fox to take the fall."

The machete fell from Bentley's numb fingers, "Carmelita was arrested?"

Every instinct screamed for me to lunge across the few feet separating us and pitch the machete into the woods, but Bentley would probably take that as a sign of hostility and not listen to another word I said, "Yeah, as a conspirator to larceny or some such nonsense. Listen Bentley, it wasn't me, I swear to you. Look," I took Sly's cane from where I'd hooked it to the back of my shirt when I'd started running and showed it to Bentley, "I want to give this back to Sly. I want to help him escape. I'd always thought that a criminal with a heart of gold was a realistic impossibility, but he's proved me wrong more times in the past few weeks than I care to admit. You all have."

Bentley looked me over critically for a moment, then sighed, picking up and sheathing the machete, suddenly looking worn and several years older, "And you keep telling us you don't have Stockholm Syndrome."

I started to bristle at that, then took a deep breath and thought it over, besides he wasn't trying to needle me, he was just stating a fact, "Maybe a little."

He shouldered the machete and turned his back on me, "Let's get going."

* * *

><p>It took us the better part of the day to find the van and when we did, we faced another problem altogether.<p>

"It's a stick shift?" I asked, sitting in the front for the first time ever.

Bentley was staring at the gearshift with concentrated anxiety, "Well it shouldn't be that hard to learn…"

I automatically reached for a seatbelt but, finding none, turned back to Bentley, "Where's the seatbelt?"

"Oh, there's no seatbelt on that side," Bentley said, getting in and buckling himself in, "The paramedics had to cut through it."

"What!" I seized the edge of my seat and the handle above the window, "Paramedics?"

"We got this van from the junkyard after it was totaled; Murray fixed it up and got it running again." Bentley's eyes got a bit misty, but he just shook his head and turned the key in the ignition, "He's a genius mechanic."

Wanting to get off the subject, I looked over at Bentley and said the first thing I could think of, "Uh, no offense, but can you reach the pedals?" Foot, meet mouth.

He flushed dark red, "Yes, I can!"

The next hour was one solid adrenaline rush. With so many trees around and the fact that I was being thrown around the front of the van like a living ping-pong ball, it's a miracle Bentley didn't crash and that I didn't break anything.

When Bentley was finally driving like a sane person and we got out onto the road, I finally had the courage to ask, "What are we going to do?"

"We're going to set up a temporary Safehouse in the first town we see and I'm going to start trying to find out where they're keeping Sly and Murray. If we get really, really lucky, they'll be in the same place. If the information is too well-guarded, we'll have to find a way to get you in contact with someone in law enforcement. If you can play your part right, they'll tell you where they're being held." Bentley continued to face forward, but he was looking at me out of the corner of his eye, waiting for my reaction to carefully judge it.

I could see why. If it came to that, he'd be putting a lot of trust in me that I'd done nothing to earn, but I owed them at least that. Any other thieves probably would have… well, they probably would have killed me when I first was tackled into the back of their van, "Let's hope we don't get that desperate. I don't feel like lying to the law."

Apparently satisfied with that answer, he nodded and turned his eyes back to the road.

* * *

><p>Three days later, we were no closer to finding out Sly and Murray's location. Bentley said that was probably because they were being moved around, but I wasn't sure I could trust that as he looked as though he hadn't slept since we settled in.<p>

The next day I was flipping through the channels of random Indian soap operas and came upon a press conference. Apparently they had just released the news that the Cooper gang had been caught and Neyla, who had apparently been from India originally, was being hailed as a hero.

I grimaced and almost changed the channel, before realizing I could probably get information from it.

You know how in interviews with foreigners, newscasters get a translator to dub it over in English? Well, it was the reverse process that I was hearing. If I listened hard enough, I could make out what the original reporter was saying.

_"… despite the heroism of Constable Neyla, however, the girl abducted from the National History Museum in Cairo, Kaia Jenks,"_ here a picture of me appeared, _"is still missing."_

The picture was from my Junior Prom, Uncle John had taken it. I hadn't really liked Prom, but even I had to admit that it was fun to dress up like that, a green dress and heels, not to mention a touch of makeup I usually never wore.

I could practically hear Sly's wolf whistle and his voice saying, "_Don't you clean up nice?"_

God, I had to find that raccoon.

I shook my head and forced myself to pay attention as the reporter continued, _"The jungle in which the Cooper gang was apprehended had been searched extensively with no sign of the girl, who is seventeen. The accused have repeatedly claimed ignorance of her location. Her family could not be reached for comment."_

Poor Dad, this had to be driving him up the wall.

The report continued in the same manner, praising Neyla, expressing surprise and remorse at the 'turncoat nature' of Inspector Fox and coaxing anyone with knowledge of my whereabouts to contact their local authorities. I turned it off after too long and went to find Bentley.

"You have _got_ to sleep." I scolded him, seeing as how he was still in front of his computer, typing madly. His eye also seemed to have developed a regular twitch.

"Can't sleep… I'm almost there, almost there…"

Considering he'd said the same thing ten hours ago, I couldn't really take him seriously.

Three more days passed in much the same way. Really, I was just lucky to get some food down Bentley's throat with the way he was currently obsessing and seriously trying to subsist only on tea and energy drinks.

Then, at about eleven at night a week after Sly and Murray had been arrested, I was awoken by a shout of triumph from his direction. I immediately scrambled to my feet and found him, in all his scruffy glory, bringing up a map of Europe on his computer.

"Prague!" he shouted gleefully, "They're in Prague!"

I promptly leaned over his shoulder to get a look at the map, "Where's Prague?"

"It's the capitol of the Czech Republic." Bentley said slipping into his familiar 'briefing' voice, typing away furiously again and making me feel like a total idiot. I'd thought Prague was a country, not a city, "They're locked away in the Contessa's criminal rehabilitation center."

I gave a snort of laughter and Bentley glared at me, "Sorry, I'm just trying to picture someone trying to psychoanalyze Sly."

At that, he had to smile too. It looked a bit out of place on his tired face, but at that point I'd take what I could get.

* * *

><p>The next morning, before heading out, I used a pay phone to call collect to my house in the States. I got the answering machine, but it was the middle of the night there and I'd planned it that way, I wasn't sure what I'd say to my dad, now that I was helping instead of hindering the gang and had no feelings of guilt for doing so. I left a simple, six word message for him, 'I'm okay and I love you.' before I hopped in the van beside Bentley and we were off for a three day trip to Prague.<p>

I never quite figured out how Bentley got us a Safehouse just beyond the center's walls, as I was curled up in the back sleeping at the time, and I also didn't ask. He woke me when we got to our destination and I helped him to set up all of his equipment.

He wanted to begin reconnaissance right away and I didn't argue. They were his best friends, as good as (or probably better than) brothers, I had no right to stand between them, so he showed me how to man the binocucom station and then headed out.

I situated the much too small headset to fit my different ears and pulled the mic down to my chin, "Can you hear me, Bentley?"

His voice crackled over the headset a moment later and I was able to see what he saw through the binocucom, "Loud and clear. I'm going to make my way to the prison to see if I can get a reading on Sly and Murray."

"Okay, be careful." Apparently, Sly and Murray had somehow managed to hide their binocucoms so they wouldn't be taken away, but they couldn't risk activating them inside the prison. Either that or they'd just forgotten they had them. Sadly, the possibilities were equally likely.

Bentley managed to find a high location a stone's throw from the wall and radioed in, "The Contessa's making her rounds! Listen, the feathers on my darts vibrate near sounds, if I tag the Contessa with my sleep darts and maintain my position on top of this parabolic dish, I should be able to hear that frequency at a distance, I might even be able to get a location for Sly or Murray! I need you to record the audio I get."

I refrained from asking what 'parabolic' meant and instead questioned the flaw in his plan, even as I opened the recording software, "Bentley, won't your darts knock out the Contessa? Won't she feel them?"

"No, her exoskeleton is too thick for that. My darts will stick for a few moments, but then they'll probably fall off. I'll probably need to tag her a few times to get enough information."

I nodded even though he couldn't see me, "Just be careful. If you get caught, I can't bust out all three of you."

There was no reply, Bentley just took aim. His accuracy amazed me just as much as the fact that his plan actually worked. I was able to record what the Contessa said with amazing clarity.

_"… The Klaww gang is falling apart. Spice shipments have all but stopped! … Argh! I'd never have joined if I'd known it would be this easy to disrupt the plans. At least the Cooper gang is under lock and key. Their lopsided sense of morality flies in the face of man's inherent selfishness. Ah-well, they'll see it my way soon enough."_

_"… Those fools at Interpol! They keep sending me criminals and I keep making money! How come no one's ever thought of this before? Hypnotize criminals and force them to tell where they've hid their fortunes… I'm a genius! If only I had more spice to help with the hypnosis!"_

_"… That blasted Cooper gang! The fat one, what's his name? Murray… yes, Murray, he'll be the first to break. I'll spend a few sessions probing that feeble mind. I can only imagine the wealth that gang has accumulated over the years!"_

_"… That Sly Cooper… such a complex and rebellious mind. A month or two in 'the hole' should break his spirit. Let him squat there, week after week. He's seen that the guards along the wall all have motion detectors. Slowly, the reality of his captivity will begin to set in and I'll get to work on his mind."_

"Inconceivable!" Bentley exclaimed when it became clear he'd get no more out of the Contessa, "She's no health care professional! This is the most heinous crime I've ever seen, it dishonors both law enforcement and criminals at the same time!"

"I think it's rather brilliant." Bentley's silence told me I was probably getting a blank stare, "Oh evil and corrupt and everything, sure, but still… brilliant."

I could practically hear the eyeroll in Bentley's voice, "We need to get to work to figure out a way to break Sly out of 'the hole'."

Bentley appeared to be struck by inspiration on his way back to the Safehouse because instead of coming inside, he veered right toward a small terminal on the train tracks.

"Bentley?"

"I've got an idea. See if you can climb up to the wall and take Sly's cane with you."

I was baffled, but I didn't question him. I took Sly's cane, grabbed the prototype binocucom, which Bentley had modified for me, and ventured outside. My newest disguise, a dark toffee color, let me blend in well with my surroundings. I passed Bentley, hard at work at the train terminal, and he pointed me to a certain location in the wall.

Once again, I didn't question him. I'd read the Thievious Raccoonus cover to cover three times now and knew enough about climbing to get myself up there, though I had more than a few close calls. I crouched, waiting, and watching in confusion as the train below me picked up speed again and again until it flew off the tracks and went careening into the wall directly behind me.

I dove to the side just as it crashed through the concrete, hissing into my binocucom moments later, "Bentley, are you mad?"

"A bit." He admitted, "Look out, I'm bombing the guards on the wall."

I could hear the guards running around above me, trying to figure out where the train had come from and just panicking in general. Explosions followed the sound of chaos and, just as the last one died away, I heard Bentley's voice over the binocucom again.

"Toss Sly's cane over the wall."

I obeyed after hearing the rusty hinges on the door to 'the hole' squeak open. I pressed myself to the side of the wall as I heard the binocucom frequency crackle back to life. Bentley was contacting Sly, the raccoon must have turned on his binocucom.

"Sly! Can you read me!"

_"How I've missed that sensuous voice of yours."_

Nice to know Sly's sense of humor hadn't been affected by his confinement.

"Save the jocular comments for later," Bentley also sounded relieved, "You see that hook above the train? It's your only means of escape. Use it to swing onto the back of the train with your cane. I've already established a Safehouse and downloaded its GPS coordinates into your binocucom. We'll rendezvous there."

_"Wow, you've really thought of everything."_

"Don't I always?"

_"Yeah, yeah you do."_ Sly sounded like he was getting emotional, _"Thanks for busting me out."_

I could almost hear the blush when Bentley replied, "Ah well, you know the saying. 'If you can't count on a friend to bust you out of jail, what kind of a friend are they'?"

_"Truer words were never spoken… Wizard."_

I really needed to hear the story behind that inside joke.

Before I could react, I heard the sound of metal against metal and Sly appeared atop the train. Thankfully, he didn't see me and continued toward the Safehouse. I followed nervously a few minutes later. I wasn't sure if I was ready to face him yet. What if he thought I was somehow behind his imprisonment, like Bentley had? I wasn't sure why, but I was… nervous.

I slowly made my way back, keeping an eye out for guards. The Safehouse Bentley had procured was right on the train tracks. It was a bit grungy, but could be made livable, given enough Lysol.

I waited as long as I could to enter, not only because I was reluctant to face Sly, but because he and Bentley deserved some time for a private reunion. When I could stall no longer without having Bentley ping me on the binocucom, I walked up the stairs and opened the door.

Sly was laughing the laugh of someone nearly hysterical at something Bentley said that probably wasn't even that funny. He was halfway through a turkey sandwich that, from the looks of him, was probably the first solid food he'd had since I saw him last.

His time in the rehabilitation center had obviously taken a toll, but he seemed determined not to let it show. He was thin and I could only guess at how much weight he'd lost. His fur was dull and his clothes tattered. His gestures were slow, as though he were stiff or hurt to move. He'd probably gotten into a brawl or two.

When the squeaky door closed behind me, he turned to see who'd entered and froze, the sandwich falling back to the table. I braced myself for an onslaught of questions and prepared to defend myself, but I was not in the slightest ready for him to march over and throw his arms around me. My brain screamed for me to do something, but my arms were frozen to my sides.

"Sly…?"

"I thought you were still in the jungle." He murmured, so close to my ear, "They kept asking us over and over where you were, and I'd thought you'd reveal yourself to the police for sure once we were caught." He pulled back and held me at arm's length, looking me over, "I was so sure you'd gotten lost in the jungle, or fallen into quicksand, or eaten by a snake…"

I gaped at him, "All this time, when you were under arrest, instead of worrying how to escape… you were pondering whether or not I'd got eaten by a snake?" In my confusion at his statement, my grammar went staight to hell.

"There wasn't much else to think about," he gave a grin and the hysterical note had vanished from his voice, "I knew getting from the inside out was nigh impossible, so I was just waiting for Bentley to get from the outside in. A four by six foot cell gives you plenty of opportunity to think about stupid city girls lost in the jungle."

Thatsnarky, _insufferable_- I jerked away and turned my back on him, crossing my arms and huffing… and also trying to hide a grin. I couldn't help it, this was classic Sly, "And to think I _worried_ about you!"

He was doing the verbal smile thing again, "Aw, the Stockholm Syndrome finally kicking in?"

"_No_!"

"Actually, Sly, back in the jungle she-"

"Hush yourself, Bentley!"

"Oooh… Wha'd you say, wha'd you say?"

"Go take a shower Sly, you absolutely reek!"

* * *

><p>And here is another chapter! Personally, I like this one quite a bit. But then, I'm biased.<p>

Oh, **ANNOUNCEMENT**!

If you want to go check out my bio, there's some general info on this story, such as the summary, my thoughts on it, the where it will go in the future (not really spoilery, considering it gives no specifics, but if you're paranoid, you might want to avoid it), the theme song, as well as a link to some fanart done by the illustrious Kody-chan (Not me. I can draw, but not that well.). I'd love it if you all would drop by and take a look, to get a feel for what Kaia looks like instead of just what she sounds like and maybe tell me what you think of her design in the reviews.

And, hey, if any of you feel like drawing fanart, I'd be more than happy to link it in my bio! Just PM me with the link and I'll reply to you, probably pretty quickly and with lots of freaking out and flattery.

But, anyhow, I hope you guys enjoyed and I'd love to know what you thought about this chap! As for now, I'll just say God Bless and wish you all a good day!


	7. Teamwork and Cliffhangers

Hallo, all!

Back to your regularly scheduled updates we go! Aren't I nice? ... Yes, yes I am.

On with the chapter!

* * *

><p>Having Sly back was pretty much the best thing ever. Even the dank and dark little Safehouse seemed to brighten merely because of his unwavering sunshine-and-roses personality. There was only one slight damper on things.<p>

We still had to get Murray.

So, it was with bittersweet feelings that Sly and I took up positions in folding chairs in front of the by now familiar slide machine.

"Okay, here's the situation," Bentley began with a few slides of the area surrounding the prison, "I've done some deep data-base crunching and have figured out that Murray is doing time in Cellblock 'D'. Getting him out is going to be a challenge. As we all know he's not exactly light on his feet. First we'll need to get Murray in an isolation cell away from the other inmates."

"And how exactly are we going to do that?" I asked around a forkful of microwavable Kraft Mac & Cheese, one of the only food commodities we'd been able to acquire, "Those cells are usually used for inmates with volatile tempers, right? Murray's more agreeable than a cat who thinks you have tuna."

Sly gave me a sidelong glance and a grin, "Do _you_ like tuna, Jinx?"

I glared and shoved another forkful of macaroni in my mouth.

"_As I was saying_…" Bentley gave me a glare for interrupting him, "Sly, I'll need you to get a sample of the Contessa's encryption algorithm." Sly gave me a bewildered glance and I shrugged. Seeing our confusion, Bentley sighed, "Don't worry, I'll explain later. You'll also need to pickpocket some things from the Contessa, just watch out for her bodyguards!"

A picture of three massive vultures was all it took to get a loud, nervous gulp from Sly's direction.

"And fourth," a picture of an average black water tower appeared on screen, "We'll need to deactivate her giant attack robot."

It was silent for a moment. Then I snorted loudly and Sly started chuckling.

"No, really guys I'm serious," Bentley sounded put out and navigated back towards the page, pulling out a marker and adding teeth and angry eyes to the water tower as he spoke, "The Contessa has a _giant attack robot_… it just _looks_ like a water tower. Once we've pulled off _all_ these jobs, we'll be ready to make a play for the big guy."

Sly stood and stretched, "Let's get started."

I stood as well, "How are we going to get Murray into solitary confinement?"

"I have a plan for that." Sly said… slyly. He took me by the elbow and led me out of the Safehouse, Bentley was plenty distracted with the binocucom station. He pointed to the prison, "I'm going to have to go up there to get the Contessa's encryption… thingy. There are crawl tunnels in Cellblock D, where Murray is. While I'm running around, raising hell with the guards, you sneak in and tell Murray to get into a big fight. If he knocks out enough teeth, they'll _have_ to put him in solitary."

I raised an eyebrow, "What makes you say that?"

"Experience, what else?"

I gaped at him, looking him up and down for signs of injury. He'd only just been thrown in 'The Hole' when we'd rescued him, he'd at least have some lingering bruises if he got into a fight of that magnitude, right? Unfortunately, with fur as thick as Sly's there was no way I'd be able to see the bruises just by looking. I sighed.

"That's all well and dandy," I said, unnecessarily shading my eyes to look up at the prison, "But how are we getting up there? I mean, yeah, I've read the Thievious Raccoonus, but I haven't the faintest idea where to even begin with getting over the walls and I'm not nearly as coordinated or balanced as you."

I looked back over at Sly and saw him wearing an unwholesome grin.

"No." I said firmly, "Whatever you're thinking, the answer is absolutely, irrevocably, '_no_'."

* * *

><p>"I hate you, I hateyou, IhateyouIhateyou…"<p>

He laughed as he ran across the wire, tail fanning out behind him, "C'mon, look at the view!"

I resisted the urge to dig my claws into his neck, settling instead for burying my head in his shoulder, "I can't believe I thought this would be even remotely okay!" Riding around on Sly's back had sounded safe enough until he put about fifty feet between us and the nearest solid landmass.

He laughed again, like he was having the time of his life, and twirled, landing on another wire. He took the pose of a surfer and began to build up speed as he slid along the cord, finally jumping off and landing just outside the prison wall.

"Thank you for flying Air Cooper. Your return flight will be at 4:00 sharp." He said, even as I made a show of dropping to my knees and flinging myself down to hug the dirt.

"Land!"

He jabbed me with his cane, "C'mon, drama queen. We gotta get going."

I rolled my eyes and contemplated chucking his stick into the river below, but realized that was probably crossing a line. He headed inside and I waited till I heard alarms go off before following. It wasn't hard to find Cellblock D, it was in the middle of the place after all, but that also meant the area was well-lit and that there were plenty of guards around.

Sticking to the fences that cordoned off exercise areas wound up, ironically, being the key to not getting caught, the spotlights were only on them for a few seconds and there were obvious blind spots I could hide in when they were.

I found the crawl tunnels under the stairs. And by 'crawl tunnels' I mean 'most disgusting and rank things I've ever had the displeasure of coming into close contact with'. I instantly understood why Sly had tricked me instead of doing it himself.

I managed to make it through by breathing through clenched teeth and imagining all the ways I could get back at the thief for this. I resolved to ask Bentley for more ideas and found myself inside a grate, looking out at the prison cells. I could hear a familiar huffing, though my line of sight was limited, so I whispered, "Murray... Murray, you there?"

"Kaia… is that you?" Murray ran in front of the grate and looked around, "Where are you?"

"Over here, in the grate in the wall!"

He hurried over to the grate and peered into it. "Kaia, I'm so glad to see you! They kept asking us where you were and Sly was freaking out!"

Note to self: Add 'Sly freaking out.' to list of blackmail possibilities.

"How are you Murray?" I asked, finding myself to be genuinely concerned.

"They've been making me eat a bunch of food covered in spice… and I'm feeling really strange." He admitted.

Eff, that must have had something to do with the Contessa's hypnosis techniques. Thankfully Murray was so large that it would take a while to get him so addicted to the stuff that the hypnosis would work, but that didn't mean we could waste time.

"Hang in there, big guy, we'll get you out. Bentley seems to have found some sort of weakness in the solitary confinement cell. If you can start a big enough fight and get them to throw you in there, we should be able to bust you out."

Murray looked a bit worried, "Well, I suppose a force like 'The Murray' could take down fifty foes… if I had to."

I tried to be encouraging, "That's great! You take out fifty of those guys and they'll put you in solitary for sure!"

"All right, bring it on!"

Apparently a little encouragement was all Murray needed. He went out into the common area and proceeded to pummel fifty inmates into submission. Despite his victory, he was a lot slower than usual; leaving me to believe the spice had taken its toll.

When he'd finally been wrestled down by five vultures and escorted to solitary, I somehow managed to wriggle around and crawl back out of the tunnels.

It's a sad, sad day when a prison yard smells better than something else.

* * *

><p>When I got back to where Sly was supposed show up to take me back to the Safe House, I was surprised to find him already there. I was also surprised by the smell that accompanied him.<p>

"Is that burning fur?"

He gave me a grin and flicked his tail. I could see a singed spot at the very tip, "The lightning got a little too close for comfort."

I felt my eyes widen, "What were you doing with lightning?"

"Destroying the attack robot."

"… Wait, Bentley was serious?"

He responded with only a grin, which quickly faded, "How was Murray?"

"Murray's fine. You, however may soon be killed if you don't come up with a very good reason for tricking me to go into the tunnels myself!"

He tapped my nose with the tip of his cane, "I have a more sensitive nose than you."

"Bull_shi_-"

"Sly, Kaia, you read me?" Bentley's nasally voice crackled through the binocucom ear bud.

"Yeah Bentley. Hey, do we have a shower at the Safehouse?" I did _not_ want to think about what that slime on my elbow probably was.

"A shower…?" He sounded bewildered for a moment, but then I could picture him shaking his head and refocusing on the task at hand, "That has nothing to do with anything! You got Murray into solitary, right?"

"Yup, it was surprisingly easy."

"And Sly took care of the attack robot and the encryption algorithm."

"I still can't believe you weren't kidding, pal."

"That means you still have to get the tank plans from the Contessa."

"And how do we do that?"

"_We_? Nuh-uh, Jinx. I'll be taking care of that. Alone." Sly stipulated firmly.

"Are you kidding me? I'm not gonna let you attempt to take on her _and_ her guards. If all else fails I can be a distraction."

"She'd smell you coming a mile away!"

* * *

><p>Back at the Safehouse, Bentley flinched when he heard the sound of a battle cry and a scuffle.<p>

"Guys? GUYS!"

The sounds continued for about a minute until static filled the channel. He slapped his forehead and heaved a long-suffering sigh. Then the static stopped and Sly started talking again, _"Bentley, is there any tactical advantage to Jinx helping at all?"_

Ignoring the faint 'Don't call me Jinx!' from the speakers, Bentley considered it, "Well, it depends. Kaia, how fast can you run?"

* * *

><p>Having won the argument, given Sly a black eye, and received a couple bruises of my own (Sly had pinned me in the end to avoid actually having to fight me), we proceeded around to the other side of the prison, me on Sly's back once again, him grumbling the whole time. I knew he was sore about me being a part of the plot, but hey, it made it much easier to get the plans.<p>

Once we made it to a ledge that overlooked the Contessa's patrol route, I slid off Sly's back, touching softly to the ground. It occurred to my ADD mind that I needed better shoes, my Vans were practically in tatters.

Sly turned to me with a no nonsense look on his face. That's right, this was serious business to him. He took off his hat and slapped it on my head. I adjusted it and looked up at him, my lips quirking at his hat hair.

He took a step back and crossed his arms, looking me over, "There, that ought to make you look like my silhouette from a decent distance, as long as you stay in the shadows. Just make a noise and get one of the guards chasing you, I'll come up behind them once you're far enough away from the Contessa and knock them senseless, just don't let them catch you before then."

I rolled my eyes and gave him a mock salute before shimmying down a nearby pipe. I wasn't stupid enough to think this wasn't dangerous, I just wanted to let him think I was confident. All that was necessary was to lure away the Contessa's guards so Sly could pickpocket her. Simple, right?

Actually, yeah. Yeah it was. I was able to sufficiently distract the guards by sticking to the shadows, 'accidently' knocking over something in earshot, then booking it outta there once they caught sight of me. I'd generally hide behind or under something in a dead end then, when the guards were looking about in confusion, Sly would come up behind them, flip them up, then slam them down. Sweet dreams!

I tried not to focus on how strong Sly would _have_ to be to be pulling this off.

Anyways, seven guards later (Sly had to pickpocket the Contessa three times, great master thief that he is) I was creeping along the crags of the cliff the Contessa's detention center was built on. I lamented the cold rain that was quickly washing away my disguise and watched Sly go in for the final grab. He'd told me to head back to the Safehouse, but I couldn't resist the urge to see him in action.

They say curiosity killed the cat. I wonder what they say about hybrids?

It's probably something along the lines of 'curiosity thoroughly screwed over the hybrid'.

When Sly made the grab, as easily as walking down the sidewalk, mind you, he ducked behind some nearby rubble. The Contessa instantly noticed something was missing and started looking around for her guards. I was only able to make out the tail end of her rant ("-They're all _fired_!"), before she cast a rope of web above her and snagged a beam overhead to pull herself off the tracks. When I say 'a beam overhead', I mean a beam over _my_ head.

I didn't even have time to react before I came face to face with the Contessa. It was definitely one of those deer-in-the-headlights moments. Unfortunately she reacted much quicker than me. It was only instinct that let me jump back fast enough to avoid her swipe.

Then I was running along the crags faster than I'd ever run. Adrenaline was an impressive ally, but not impressive enough. The _Contessa_ had six legs.

I tried to dive into a ventilation shaft on the outside of the wall, but only got halfway in before my leg was grabbed. I tried to kick of course, but I was yanked out so quickly I wasn't oriented enough to do so for long.

Being upside down while face to face with the Contessa was not so intimidating as being right side up. Mostly because I was so preoccupied with keeping my shirt from falling down and the pain in my leg from where she was holding me up. Was it spiders that could lift one thousand times their body weight or ants? Either way, the fact that she could hold me up like that didn't really surprise me.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" The Contessa asked smarmily, in that weird accent of hers. "If it isn't Sly Cooper's little hostage girl. Interpol will give me the credit for this one. Though," she amended after I snapped at her hand when she tilted my head to get a better look at me, "It looks like you need some rehabilitation of your own. Mmm… yes, too much time with the Cooper gang surely will have traumatized your psyche. Interpol would be pleased if I… _volunteered_ to evaluate you and give them a psychiatrist's opinion. And I'm sure you know where the Cooper gang hides their fortune by now."

That actually made me freeze with fear for a couple of reasons. First, the Contessa's 'evaluations' consisted of drugging up inmates, then hypnotizing them, something I did _not_ want to be on the receiving end of. Second, she was convinced I knew where the gang hid their fortunes and likely wouldn't stop questioning me until I told her. A hesitant 'In the back of their van?' probably wouldn't sate her inquiries.

I didn't have much time to ponder this as the Contessa started moving, climbing _vertically_ up the prison wall. I felt vertigo seep in and shut my eyes tightly to try to keep the mac and cheese I'd eaten just hours ago from coming up, or down as it was in this case.

That's what I was concentrating on until I somehow heard a strangled gasp somewhere below and opened my eyes reflexively, just in time to see the horrified look on Sly's face from where he stood, about fifty feet below. As I watched, his expression morphed from horror to no less than feral rage. I actually flinched merely at the look in his eyes, not to mention the fact that he started chasing the Contessa. I tried waving him off; there was _no way_ he could take on the Contessa by himself. He ignored me though, and I _know_ he saw me, in favor of scaling the crags in pursuit.

The Contessa was over the wall seconds later and I lost sight of the thief in favor of shutting my eyes again against the intense vertigo. I knew he was still following, though, because I soon heard the unmistakable sound of a cane beating flesh and the pained squawks of the guards on the walls.

"What is this!" I heard the Contessa exclaim indignantly. I made the mistake of opening my eyes at the exact wrong time as she tossed me, literally _tossed_ me, to a nearby pair of guards. Fortunately, they caught me and I didn't crash into the ground. Unfortunately, they caught me and held on, giving me no chance to get loose and head to Sly's aid, however ineffective I might have been.

My heart did stop for a moment when I saw all the guards swarm to Sly's position and the Contessa stalking towards the place where he was holding them all off with only his cane.

I did try to get away. I bit and kicked and fought and scratched but managed to do next to no damage. Then one of the guards managed to grow a brain cell and I felt a blow to the back of my neck. I stayed conscious, but only just, vision darkening and my legs giving way, sinking to the ground as much as I could with the guards still holding me up. They started dragging me somewhere while I tried to get my body to obey me again, trying to fight off the discombobulating effects of the hit and get back to where I could still hear the fights going on.

I knew I'd been taken inside somewhere because I felt my legs dragging against stone and the sounds of the scrimmage were muffled. I started to regain some of my foggy vision two flights of stairs later when I heard a door open creakily, and I was tossed (again, what was with the tossing?) to a dirty floor. I heard the door close again and tried to force my unwilling limbs to respond to my commands when I heard something move nearby.

I froze in fear, adopting a 'play dead' mentality. Someone knelt next to me and I was rolled over onto my back. I heard an intake of breath and cracked my eyes open to see brown eyes set into a familiar orange-furred face. The previous intake of breath was released in Spanish.

"_Mi Dios…_"

I couldn't help but agree with her sentiment. Oh my_ God_.

"Inspector Fox?"

She helped me into a sitting position against the wall as I continued to stare at her, open-mouthed. I knew she'd been arrested when Sly and Murray were, but I didn't know she was _here_! The grungy cell we were in didn't offer much light to see her by, just what filtered through the barred window from the spotlights, but I could tell she was thinner and could see dark circles around her eyes, like she hadn't been sleeping.

"What are you _doing_ here, Kaia?" she asked incredulously, giving me the same once over I'd given her. "I know you're a smart girl, how did you even get involved with the Cooper gang?" I'd met Inspector Fox at several FBI events over the years and we'd actually gotten along very well, all things considered. She probably knew me a lot better than I knew her by now, though, considering she was in charge of getting me back from the gang.

I trusted her, so I told her. Everything, from the museum, to Paris, to India, to the jungle, to where we were then I told her.

She shook her head when I was finished, "This whole mess started because you got mad at Cooper and continued because you wouldn't let it go. There's too much of your father in you.

I grinned sheepishly, no stranger to the inside joke the force came up with about my dad having some terrier in him because once he sunk his teeth into a case, he just _wouldn't_ let go. When my dad had gotten custody of me after the divorce, the entire bureau had helped him raise me. As a result, I knew enough intimidation techniques to be an old maid the rest of my life and I got more birthday presents than anyone else I knew. Honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way.

She sighed, sinking back on her heels, "At least you look healthy enough. After that stunt Cooper pulled in the jungle, I wasn't sure what to think."

I grimaced, rubbing my head, "Oh trust me, he regretted that _very_ much. He was in the proverbial doghouse for two days before I was convinced he was sorry."

She gave me a tiny smile. "You _would_ have him wrapped around your finger by now. How did you wind up in here?"

"I was with Sly, helping him pickpocket some stuff from the Contessa. Oh, don't give me that look," I said in response to her critical eye, "They're trying to bust Murray out. Would you leave _anyone_ to the Contessa's mercy? Or complete lack thereof?"

She shook her head, "But didn't he try to come after you when the Contessa grabbed you?"

"Are you kidding? Of course he did! I thought he was gonna tear her apart, but there were too many guards. Judging from the sound of explosions," and there had been quite a few, "he probably got away. Not that I'm not going to catch hell for getting caught when he busts us out."

She blinked at me in surprise, "Us?"

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, 'us'. If Sly and Bentley had known you were in the same detention center, we probably would have been planning to come get you too."

She averted her gaze, "It's hard to know what Ringtail will do…"

Seeing a prime opportunity for teasing I leaned forward conspiratorially and asked, "_So_ is 'Ringtail' your pet name for Sly or something?"

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to claim the title of the first person to ever make Inspector Carmelita Fox choke on air, look thoroughly scandalized, and turn a miraculous shade of red.

It took me awhile to stop laughing enough to inhale, "Oh, I knew it! I knew it!" I muffled my giggles at her glare, but then remembered something, "So, how was it that he managed to handcuff you to a rail?"

The shade of red deepened, "He… distracted me."

"_How_? He refuses to tell me!"

She averted her eyes and started picking at a loose thread on her pants. "Well, you must know by now how Cooper and I had to work together to take down Clockwerk two years ago. He got me out of a gas chamber and I got him a jet pack so he could fly up to Clockwerk's level. I told him that after it was over though, I'd go right back to chasing him. He asked if I really would and I told him I'd give him a ten second head start. And after it all, I did."

"… And?"

She gave a sardonic smirk, "I had my shock pistol trained right on him, handcuffs in my other hand, just waiting for him to start running. But he didn't, he just… stood there for all ten seconds." I tried to hide a smirk of my own. Sly would only do that if he had something up his sleeve, "Then he used that stupid cane of his to get rid of my shock pistol and, just when his ten seconds were up he was _right there_ and-" The look on her face and the way she unconsciously touched the tips of her fingers to her lips told the rest of the story.

I doubled over laughing, "He _kissed_ you? Oh, that's priceless!"

She smiled too, evidently she'd gotten past the point of being embarrassed and found the memory funny herself. "I'll catch him one of these days, though. He can't one-up me forever."

"Knowing Sly, he'll probably last longer than you'd think. How many other times have the two of you bumped heads?"

She looked up at the ceiling, a fond smile touching her lips, "Well, there was this one time…"

* * *

><p>We didn't get long for me to hear about that one time. It was maybe an hour after I'd joined Carmelita in the cell when we both heard the unmistakable sound of explosions.<p>

I gave my companion a toothy grin and said, "Told ya."

She frowned, moving toward the small, barred window high on the wall and raising herself to the tips of her toes to peer out, "Are you sure? Those explosions weren't exactly close."

"No," I agreed, "They're probably going to get Murray out and find a terminal before they even know where we are, but they're coming."

She gave me an odd look, the fluorescent orange light coming in lines from outside throwing her face into contrast, "You have a lot of faith in them."

I shrugged, getting to my feet creakily. "They're honest people. They may be thieves, but they aren't liars. And they're crazy loyal. No reason not to have faith in them."

She smiled at me, like she knew something I didn't. I opened my mouth to question her on this when her ears sudden swiveled in the direction of the hallway and she froze, alert. I followed her example and was able to hear the sound of running footsteps coming straight for our door.

Carmelita grabbed my arm and forced me to stand in a corner behind her while she crouched in a defensive position in front of the door, tail slowly waving behind her in anticipation. The door opened and she leapt, going for the shock pistol in the belt of the vulture behind the door while simultaneously directing a punch straight into his beak and kneeing him in the gut.

He fell back with a pained squawk and Carmelita hefted a pistol, aiming at something farther down the hall.

"Kaia, go!"

The tone of her voice was so commanding that I didn't dare question her or hesitate. I bolted in the opposite direction she was aiming and ran only a short distance before being confronted with a flight of stairs. I dropped to all fours for the ascent and didn't fully straighten when I was running again, keeping my head down, ready to dodge or attack.

At the end of the hall I was running through I saw an open archway. I saw the rain reflecting the torch and spotlights from the outdoors. Lightning flashed and I was temporarily blinded when I cleared threshold of the archway. I stopped before I could run into something and waited for my vision to clear. When it did, I hastily looked around myself.

Was I on a balcony? It looked like it. The entire area, except the part I'd just come through, was roped off like a sort of fence. It seemed too big to be a balcony, though…

A gust of wind tore through the air, passing through my t-shirt and jeans like they weren't even there and chilling me to the bone, making all my fur fluff up. The floor beneath me pitched and moved, throwing me to my knees. Then I realized the surface under my fingers was not stone. With a sinking feeling I lifted my eyes upward and saw what looked to be a large balloon.

I groaned. Loudly.

I was on a blimp!

I heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps behind me and turned with a sense of foreboding to the way I'd come. I _was_ trapped, after all.

There were five guards, two vultures and three wolves. One of the vultures had his shock pistol trained on Inspector Fox, who was standing in front of them, giving them the evil eye, despite being handcuffed. In this light I could see how thin she was, how dull her fur looked. She really had seen better days. My lips twitched when I realized that, in spite of this, her eyes held the same old fire.

"Hands on your head," One of the vultures wheezed, "And no sudden moves."

I gave them the exact same glare as Carmelita, putting my hands on the back of my head slowly. I was moderately please when I saw one of the wolves flinch. Normally, the way my eyes scared some people annoyed me, but in this case, I intended to use it to my advantage.

One of the other wolves came forward and forced my wrists behind my back, securing them with a length of rope. Apparently they only had one set of handcuffs. Good job, them. Good job.

The rest of the guards hurried onto the platform, one of them untying the blimp from its moorings. I felt ill when it started floating upward. Being scared of heights had distinct disadvantages .

Inspector Fox and I were shoved to one side of the platform with a guard to keep us from 'trying anything' while the rest bustled about the blimp, directing it up toward the walls of the prison. I did catch sight of an abandoned tank in front of Cell Block D and fought the urge to smirk. So Bentley and Sly were able to blow the doors after all.

I caught Carmelita's eye and mouthed 'sorry'. She shook her head, eyed the guard, rolled her shoulders, and nodded to the edge. It didn't matter, wait until she attacked the guard, and make a break for it. I couldn't point out the obvious flaw in her plan because just then the blimp cleared the wall and the Contessa, cornered by Sly and the gang, jumped aboard, clinging to the side.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Carmelita lunge. I instinctively dodged out of her way when she bodily tackled the guard and made for the single gap in the rope fence. I halted though, when I made it.

It was such a long way down…

"Kaia!"

I snapped out of my stupor to see Sly standing on the edge of the wall, cane by his feet, arms extended toward me. I hopped back, planted a foot on the edge of the platform, tensing my muscles to spring.

But I didn't even have my arms to balance myself…

"Stop her!" The Contessa screamed.

Sly's eyes found mine and I couldn't look away.

"Jump!"

I jumped.

* * *

><p>...<p>

Hey, remember, I'm the nice one. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Let me know what you think and God bless!


	8. Hospitals and Oreos

Hi guys!

I have to say, you guys have been really good sports about the cliffhanger, so I'm giving you this episode a day early! And the fact that I got a bunch of reviews helped. (unsubtle hint)

On with the chapter!

* * *

><p>Had I had the opportunity to think before I woke or, for that matter, before I jumped (if I'd thought I would lose consciousness), I would have expected to wake up at the Safehouse or in the back of the Cooper van with Bentley andor Sly ready to chew me out.

I certainly wouldn't have expected to see a cat hovering over me. To my credit I stopped screaming when I saw he was wearing scrubs. He released his ears warily, as though afraid I would start screaming the instant he was unprepared just to spite him.

I sat straight up, fighting the head rush as I looked around, chest heaving. I was in a… a hospital or clinic of some kind. Let me make one thing perfectly clear. I _hate_ hospitals. I loathe them, utterly and completely. I broke my leg once, skiing, and had to have surgery on it. I was in the hospital for three days before I threw such an unholy fuss that they let my dad take me home.

My head throbbed and I raised a hand to feel the tight binds that wrapped around it. When had I hurt my head? Now that I thought of it, most of my body ached, though it was mostly my shoulders and left arm.

My humiliation was complete when I saw I was wearing a hospital gown. Through my surprise I heard the beeping of a heart monitor increase and glanced down at my hand. Not only was there a sensor attached to my finger, but there was _an IV in my arm._

"Kdo jste?"

Hahn? I looked up at the cat and it took me a moment to realize that his violet eyes were trained on me and yes, he had just spoken gibberish. He was really short and his fur was of the deepest black, it almost looked purple. He looked younger than me, but that couldn't have been possible, given that he appeared to work at the hospital, maybe he was just really baby-faced.

I blinked stupidly at him for a moment and he scowled, speaking again, "Jaké je vaše jméno?" I shook my head slowly. I had no idea what he was saying.

"Vaše jméno? Stejně jako ... Já jsem," He placed his hand flat on his chest, "Ristuka." He repeated the gesture and the word, then pointed at me with a questioning expression. Okay, that was easy enough. He was Ritsuka, I was…

I mirrored his gesture, placing my un-needled hand over my heart, "Kaia."

He seemed pleased with himself for a moment, then blinked, "Počkejte ... Kaia? Stejně jako v, Kaia Jenks?" Again with the pointing and the questioning expression.

Oh great, he knew my full name. I sighed and nodded. He muttered to himself for a moment, then made another gesture. This one was an open palm, perpendicular to the ground, with his arm fully extended. Any fool could figure that one out. "Zůstaň tady."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm not moving." I crossed my arms as best I could, grumbling. He rolled his eyes and stepped out the door, but not before looking over his shoulder to check and see if I'd somehow disappeared in the last second. He started yelling, down the hall from the echoes, and several voices answered him. The more I listened to the language, the more it seemed familiar.

When I remembered where I'd heard it before, I was only a little surprised. My Biology teacher had spent a few years in the Czech Republic and sometimes spoke Czech just to annoy some of the more obnoxious students. This language sounded the same. Was I still in Prague? If so, where was the gang? What was going on?

When Ritsuka re-entered the room, there was a retriever in a lab coat with him and an old-looking grey squirrel in a suit trailing behind. The doctor immediately went over and started examining the equipment while the squirrel situated himself on stool by my bed. Ritsuka leaned against the wall near the door, pinning the scene with his eyes.

The squirrely spoke first in accented, but fully understandable, glorious English. "What is your name?"

Gee, cut right to the chase, why don't you? "It's polite to introduce yourself before asking another's name."

The squirrel appeared to be taken by surprise by my response, but give me a break. I'd just woken up in a hospital, surrounded by foreigners, with no idea where I was, what had happened to me, or where the gang was. I had a right to be snippy.

Ritsuka coughed into his hand and I got the distinct impression he was trying not to laugh at what the squirrel had just muttered, of which the only word I could understand was 'American'.

"I," The squirrel tried to puff up, which really just made him look silly, "Am a Professor of Linguistics. I translate for the hospital's foreign guests."

Okay… that wasn't really an introduction, so I just mentally decided to call him 'Professor' I never did learn his actual name, "I'm Kaia Jenks."

The doctor cut in with a question, which the professor translated, "Dr. Kuroi wants to know if you're in pain."

"Yes." I said simply, enjoying the twitch that seemed to develop under the professor's right eye, "My turn. Where am I?"

"Prague Pediatric Center," Professor said. He listened to the doctor for a moment, then translated, "How did you come to be injured?"

I shrugged, "Don't remember." That was half true. I figured it had something to do with the fall.

Professor frowned, like he didn't believe me, big surprise, and translated for the doctor. The retriever frowned and came over, pulling a pen light from the pocket of his coat. General concussion exam followed and I guess I passed because the doctor frowned again, like he was confused.

I ignored their unintelligible conversation in favor of looking on the bleak Czech landscaped out the widow to my left. The sky was dark and overcast, but I could tell it was late in the evening.

I frowned in thought. Why was I here? Why wasn't I with the gang? Had they been captured? No, if they had, I'd be in a hospital where they knew who I was and my dad would be with me... so what happened?

I gnawed on the inside of my lip absentmindedly, trying to force myself to remember. I was interrupted by the doctor shining another bright light into my eyes and, in general, giving me a thorough examination. The translations of the professor let me know that I didn't have a concussion, that I'd been in the hospital for several days, etc...

It seemed like hours before they left me alone to think. The only conclusion that I could truly come up with was that the gang had dropped me off in an emergency room and immediately taken off.

I was making a spirited attempt to kill them with my mind when the door opened again. I thought it would be the doctor or the professor, but it was Ritsuka, holding a tray in one hand and a laptop under his other arm.

He handed the tray to me and I took off the top, finding what was probably food and digging in while Ritsuka made himself comfortable at the foot of my bed. I wasn't even sure what I was eating and it tasted suspiciously like potatoes, so I decided not to think about it too much.

The cat was doing something on his laptop and I'm not going to lie that I was curious as to what he was doing in my room, but I figured I'd find out soon enough.

He turned the laptop to face me and I almost choked on the water I was drinking. He was on Google Translator and had used it to find out how to say 'Hello'.

I took the laptop and switched the languages so I was able to say hello back to him. He gave a small grin when he saw his idea was working and we began our communication.

Not to say that the computerized translator was perfect, we had our share of mistranslations and confusion, but the simplified version of our transactions is this, obligatory small talk excluded:

**Ritsuka:** You do not seem very glad to be free of the Cooper gang.

**Me:** Well, I wouldn't necessarily say that I was ever really their prisoner. They've been trying to get rid of me since The National History Museum.

**Ritsuka:** Did they not kidnap you?

**Me:** Not really, I kind of jumped Sly outside the Museum and wouldn't let go of his cane. I was trying to keep him from getting away. I didn't consider the secret third option of him taking me along.

**Ritsuka:** Why did you not leave?

**Me: **At first I it was because I wanted to be able to give information to Interpol as to what they were up to, but they kept too good of an eye on me to allow me to get away with that. I'm not so sure anymore, but I'm worried about them.

**Ritsuka:** Worried?

**Me:** Well, yeah. I don't know what happened to them. I wish I could find them. They need as much help as they can get. They aren't all bad and they're completely outmatched. And I need to pay them back for dropping me off and running away!

**Ritsuka:** I noticed you didn't like the hospital very much.

**Me:** Well, yeah, that too. Do you know what they're planning on doing with me?

**Ritsuka: **I believe they will call Interpol and an officer will come to collect you as soon as we have determined that there is no brain damage.

**Me:** That's not good. I know that at least one member of Interpol is a member of the Klaww gang. I know another one is a backstabbing sociopath. In fact, the only good member of Interpol I know of was falsely accused of collaborating with the Cooper gang and was arrested. If more Interpol members are part of the Klaww gang, then I'm not sure I'll make it back home.

**Ritsuka: **The Klaww gang? I agree, if they believe you know of their gang ties, they will have no problem with removing you. And if you truly do not know of any members that would be safe, you would not know you were in danger.

**Me:** Exactly. Ironically, the safest place for me this side of the Atlantic Ocean is probably with the Cooper Gang. They're constantly on the run from the law.

**Ritsuka:** Is there anything you need from outside? I could bring it for you.

I looked down at my horrid hospital gown and quickly typed in:

**Me:** Different clothes would be nice. And food I recognize.

Ritsuka nodded to himself and closed his laptop. I protested, seeing as how there was still more I wanted to tell him, but he just waved as he made his way to the door.

I sat with a huff and winced as I accidently jerked on the IV in my hand in the act of crossing my arms. I sighed and flopped back onto the bed aimlessly. What was I supposed to be doing? I mean, I wanted to leave the hospital, but I had no idea how to go about that, especially when I only had the one hospital gown to my name.

I returned to my window-watching, not being able to understand the TV. The sky had been dark for several hours now and it wasn't long before I used that as an excuse to try to go to sleep.

* * *

><p>After a nearly sleepless night, I was desperately wishing for at least a tennis ball to throw up and down to alleviate my boredom. The phrase 'if wishes were horses, then beggars would ride' popped into my head, but I angrily stomped it down.<p>

I did take the opportunity to have a shower, as the last time I could remember having a proper one was back in India, if you didn't count the rain.

There really wasn't anything to do but brood and angst about finally being ditched by the gang, which I tended to avoid on principal as I disliked being depressed. I mean, I had logical arguments to combat the questions of whether or not they really disliked me or if they were glad I was gone, but that didn't stop me from thinking.

Then the door cracked open and Ritsuka slipped inside, looking hunted. I got to my feet instantly."Ritsuka, wha-?"

He held a finger to his lips and put an ear to the door, listening carefully. I took this opportunity to notice that he wasn't wearing scrubs, but baggy jeans and a hooded jacket that made him look much younger than he had appeared even before. A backpack slung over his shoulder drew my attention just before he shrugged it off and opened it, digging around for a moment before producing a bundle of cloth and throwing it at me, pointing insistently to the bathroom.

I pointed just as insistently at the IV stuck in my arm, raising an eyebrow at him. He rolled his eyes and hurried forward, pulling on the tape and the cover that protected the needle, sliding it out carefully and pressing a cotton ball to the tiny prick in the skin, taping it in place with one of the pieces of tape he'd just plucked from the plastic cover.

I leapt to my feet and took the bundle of cloth from him, hurrying into the bathroom. I yanked the gown over my head and tugged on a pair of jeans that were a bit short and a white hoodie that was way too big. I glanced at myself in the mirror, then did a double take. My hair was disheveled and lackluster, my eyes bloodshot. I quickly splashed some water on my face, rubbed it dry with a towel, and rearranged my hair so it mostly hid the bandage on my head.

I stepped out of the bathroom and Ritsuka handed me a pair of ragged Converse that I pulled on with no small amount of difficulty. He looked me over and finally nodded his head, stepping forward and pulling my hood over my head. He gave a satisfied smile and gestured for me to follow him, at the same time putting a finger to his lips.

My heart pounding, I followed him. Just what was he up to?

The bustle of the pediatric ward was the perfect cover for us to slip into the elevator, which was, thankfully, empty. Ritsuka hit the button for the third floor, fidgeting and shifting his weight anxiously as he watched the numbers over the door slowly decrease. I really wanted to ask him what was up, but the language barrier made it difficult.

We finally made it to the third floor and, keeping his head down, Ritsuka led me to an adjacent corridor, which was a bridge that connected the hospital to the parking garage. He was walking at a sort of trot between a fast walk and a jog, which would have been amusing if I weren't so worried about what was making him nervous.

The parking garage was more or less deserted, but Ritsuka led me up the stairwell to our left, up to the seventh level. The only vehicle on that level was a motorcycle. Leaning against a nearby pillar was a tall, skinny fox, who was weaving a string through his fingers with the air of the exceptionally bored. His ears flicked toward us before his eyes followed, the latter a startlingly green.

"Ritsuka," he addressed my companion as we ran up to him, "Teď se mi říct, co se děje?"

The cat launched into a hurried conversation with the newcomer to our posse. I took the brief interlude to have a look at said newcomer. He had goggles perched on the top of a flaming red mane of hair and a black leather riding jacket zipped up to his throat.

His mildly agitated expression changed to one of worry at whatever Ritsuka was saying to him. There was a moment of silence after Ritsuka finished talking, out of breath, where the fox reached out and tousled his black hair, grinning. Ritsuka actually hissed at him and he chuckled, turning to me.

"Well, Kaia Jenks, you've got yourself into quite a bit of trouble. Shall we go?" My jaw, understandably, dropped to somewhere around my ankles. He didn't have an accent, but he'd spoken Czech with Ritsuka fluently. Who was this guy? I voiced my question aloud and he rolled his eyes at me, producing a helmet from a side bag on his motorcycle. "I'm Ahanu. We'll have a better introduction later. Put this on."

I did, feeling a bit wary still. Ahanu started to get on the motorcycle, but Ritsuka seized a handful of his jacket, holding him back for a moment. Ahanu blinked and looked down at the cat, who was a good head and a half shorter than him, a question in his eyes.

"Ahanu, buďte opatrní, v pořádku?"

The fox's green eyes widened in surprise before he broke out in a grin and reached out quickly, pulling Ritsuka into a one-armed hug, "Budu v pořádku, nebojte se tolik."

Ritsuka turned a variety of amusing colors as he shoved away from Ahanu, who was still laughing to himself, with a fierce glare. The fox got on the motorcycle and I hesitantly got on behind him, not thinking it was safe. I was proven correct when, with a final wave to Ritsuka, Ahanu gunned the engine.

If it weren't for my inherited feline reflexes, I would have fallen off instantly. As it was, I just lunged forward and clung to Ahanu for all I was worth while we peeled out of the parking garage and, in moments, into traffic.

I probably could've been spending my time watching the scenery pass by and marveling at my sudden freedom or something equally poetic… but I was too busy trying to become one with Ahanu's leather jacket and thinking, _'Oh God please don't let him kill us Oh God please don't let him kill us Oh God please don'tlethimkillus…'_

It could have been seconds, minutes or hours, but after some indeterminate amount of time, Ahanu drove into a parking lot outside an apartment complex and parked the motorcycle. He was surprisingly patient while I detached my claws from his jacket, after which he led me up to apartment '238'.

I swept my hood off when the door closed behind me, looking around. The apartment was actually pretty nice. Off to my left was a kitchen and dining area. Directly in front of me was a living room and immediately to my right was what could only be a closet door. There was also a hall that had a door on the left, two on the right, and one at the very end that was halfway open, allowing a glance into a bedroom beyond.

Ahanu strode past me, closing the curtains on the windows and disconnecting a phone that was plugged into a wall. I raised an eyebrow at this moderately suspicious behavior, but he just gave me a disarming grin, "Telemarketers are universal to all countries," and continued looking around the apartment.

Seemingly satisfied with whatever he'd been looking for, he headed right back for the door, gently pushing me aside.

"I have to go out now, but I'll be back in an hour or two. Feel free to explore and make yourself at home. The TV is actually set to pick up American CNN right now, so you could watch your story, that's all they've been airing for the past month or so. Anything you need while I'm out?"

Caught off guard by the question, I said the first thing that came to mind, "American food?"

He blinked at me for a couple of seconds, then seemed to register what I'd said and started laughing, "Alright, I think I can find that. Between now and then, though, I think I have some Oreos stashed in a cabinet in the kitchen somewhere."

I was shoulder deep in the first cabinet I'd laid eyes on before the door shut. I was about three seconds away from yelling 'Accio, doublestuff!' before I saw a trace of telltale blue plastic under copious amounts of ramen packages. I yanked in out, causing an avalanche of ramen that I completely ignored because I had _cookies_ and they actually _were_ doublestuffed.

I had the presence of mind to pour myself a glass of milk (a really big one, I had an _entire package_ of Oreos to go through) before I took my spoils to the living room, kicked up my feet, and turned on the TV.

I almost felt like a normal teenager again except that I was, y'know, watching my own face on national television and listening to the reporter talk about, well, _me_.

…

So… not so normal then.

They were just finishing up a recap of my story, saying, _"A Czech Hospital in Prague claims to have had the elusive hybrid in their care for several days. Constable Neyla of Interpol, who was put in charge of the Cooper case after the arrest of Inspector Carmelita Fox, has been sent to ascertain the truth to this."_

I shuddered. It was good I got out of there, if Neyla had been the officer they sent. I couldn't imagine how that conversation would've gone, but it wouldn't have been good.

_"We will, of course have the details as soon as they are made available. Sgt. Jenks, of the FBI and the father of the missing girl, has still not been able to be reached for comment."_

Dad… I hadn't contacted him to let him know I was okay for a while now. I needed to find a way to do that, but it would have to wait. Even if Ahanu hadn't unplugged his phone, my dad was probably tracing (or attempting to) every single call I sent at him. I wasn't sure if you could trace a call overseas, but I wasn't going to find out the hard way.

My hand went to my throat to toy with the necklace that had been there for weeks now. I frowned; they must have taken it off at the hospital. Maybe Ritsuka could get it back for me? It was a really nice necklace; I liked it a lot…

I reached over and seized the remote, pressing the off button with a little more force than absolutely necessary. Rocking onto my feet, I dunked an Oreo into my milk and shoved it in my mouth, savoring the chocolate and sugar as I paced around the apartment, suddenly restless. What was it Ahanu had said after talking to Ritsuka? I'd 'gotten myself into quite a bit of trouble'? What did that mean?

If Constable Neyla had been at the hospital at that point, how had Ritsuka known she was bad? Had he known? Was there some other reason I'd been whisked away from the hospital?

For lack of anything better to do and because if I just sat around thinking about everything, I'd probably get paranoid; I decided to snoop through the apartment. Did it count as snooping if I'd been given permission to do it? Hmmm…

I made for first door on the right side of the hallway. It revealed a rather drab and plain guest room, so I ignored it and moved on in my search. The second door opened into a bathroom, so I ignored it too. Feeling the urge to do some hardcore snooping, I made for the end of the hall, which I could clearly see to hold Ahanu's bedroom.

I pushed the door the rest of the way open. The room had a queen sized sleigh bed pushed against the middle of the far wall, a closet to the right, a bookshelf… to the left was a desk with shelves all around it. I headed for the desk. You can earn an awful lot about someone from their computer.

"Please let it be in English, please let it be in English…"

It was, but it was also password protected.

"If I were a password…" I mused, "Where would I be?" Personally, I just memorized my passwords because I didn't like the idea of leaving them around, but if I had a bad memory I'd put mine…

I dropped to the floor and wriggled under the space where the person at the desk would normally put their legs, trying to ignore the plethora of cords. I laid on my back and pushed the keyboard shelf out.

"Wow… I can't believe that worked."

Etched into the underside of the wood was the word, 'Ice-storm'. Feeling incredibly proud, I extracted myself from underneath the table and plopped down, once again, in the comfy leather desk chair. I typed in the password and took the opportunity to examine the shelves while the desktop booted up.

Most of the contents on the shelves were yellow because they were taken up with countless Rosetta Stone programs. My jaw dropped at the amount of them. French, Spanish, Czech, Russian… There was every language that I'd ever heard of and a few that I hadn't.

"Well," I mused to myself, "That explains his proficiency in Czech."

The rest of the space was taken up by computer games. Old ones, new ones, ones I myself remembered playing at the age of ten. I shook my head at the mix of signals I was getting and reoriented my attention on the desktop.

The desktop was a positively priceless picture of Ahanu and Ritsuka and two girls, one a wolf, the other a calico cat. It looked like it had been taken during the opening of Christmas presents by a timed camera. It was the tail end of a wrapping paper fight. Ritsuka was mid-way through tackling Ahanu to the ground, a fistful of ribbons in one hand and a maniacal glint in his eye. The wolf was blocking Ahanu's exit and the calico was rolling around in a pile of wrapping paper, either having a seizure or laughing hysterically.

I smirked and took hold of the mouse, directing it to open Mozilla Firefox.

The home page was an email inbox that I carefully avoided looking at as I clicked on the address bar, still grateful that the computer language was in English, and typed in the address for Facebook. I'll admit I was curious and that was really my main reason for doing so.

I typed my name into the search bar and clicked on my profile.

What I saw on my wall… I did not expect.

There were dozens of posts, all from my friends, even those I didn't know very well. Some were worded in an encouraging way, but some of my closest friends had just been posting questions about what I was up to, if I was having fun gallivanting around the world, and requests to send them post cards.

I smirked as I scrolled through all the comments, wanting so badly to reply to them but knowing I couldn't without alerting anyone who might trace the source of the login.

I logged out, feeling much better, and strolled back to the living room, where I sat and ate Oreos and caught up on the news I'd missed in the last month.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**

I know, I know, there's a disappointing lack of the gang in this chapter, but don't worry, it won't last long!

Oh, one other thing. I usually update every other week, but I'm now going to update either every other week OR when I get ten reviews on the last chapter I posted. Oh, and 'update soon' does not count as a review. I love you guys, but no. Just no.

Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you thought of the chapter (particularly the new characters), if you're like! God Bless, see you soon!


	9. Tanks and Hugs

Aaah! I'm late! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late! Sorry! I got distracted. By- y'know... Doctor Who.

I'm sorry! Even when I'm not watching it, it's eating my brain!

Anyways, I'm here now and I'm updating, just in time for Thanksgiving, yaaaay!

On with the chapter!

* * *

><p>I awoke to someone shaking my shoulder impatiently. I swatted at the hand, mentally deciding that if Sly wanted me to help him out on a job when I was so tired I would tell him <em>exactly<em> and in _great_ detail where to shove his cane.

The next shake came with a mildly familiar garble of gibberish. My mouth twisted in confusion until I realized where I'd heard it before.

Just to be sure, I cracked an open and beheld Ritsuka hovering over me. I groaned to myself and sat up, just realizing that I must have fallen asleep on the obscenely comfortable couch that lay in front of Ahanu's television.

"And the dead shall riiissseee…." Ahanu's drawl came from the direction of the kitchen. Ritsuka gave an exaggerated eye roll before gripping my wrist and pulling me to my feet, muttering something I didn't even try to decipher with my brain still fogged by sleep.

I obediently stumbled into the kitchen, surreptitiously stretching my sore muscles. Ahanu was hovering over the stove, but looked up and gave me a grin nonetheless, "Nice to see the TV entertained you so much."

I covered my yawn with a hand, "It was quite entertaining actually, I was just tired. I can't sleep in hospitals."

"No one in their right mind can."

Ritsuka was apparently fed up with something because he yanked on Ahanu's arm and started speaking so rapidly that I couldn't even distinguish individual words. The fox paused in stirring whatever was in the enigmatic pot and swiveled one ear to listen to Ritsuka, turning fully to him after a moment.

I didn't even try to make sense of the gibberish; I just yawned and dropped into one of the dining room chairs. Nap… I wanted one.

I must have actually dozed off because the next thing I knew Ahanu was elbowing me in the head to wake me up and handing me a plastic bowl which contained-

"Macaroni and cheese?" Was that seriously all anyone ever ate?

He winked, "The midnight snack of champions." He turned and said something to Ritsuka, who nodded and started eating his own cheesy noodles.

"What are you guys talking about?" I asked around a mouthful of pasta-y goodness.

"He just wants me to translate for him; he doesn't like being kept in the dark." Ahanu apparently had the patience of a sea turtle, because he turned and translated what he'd just said for Ritsuka, despite it being totally uninteresting and invalid.

"Speaking of being kept in the dark," I washed down my mouthful with a sip of Coke. There are just some things that survive the culture barrier, "Not that I'm complaining, but why the covert escape from the hospital? I mean, I get that I had to get out of there because of Interpol and all, but why'd you guys help me? You had no reason to."

Ahanu shrugged, "Ritsuka called in a favor. I've known him for half a decade and he's never done that, so I would've helped him steal the Mona Lisa. As for _his_ reasons, give me a sec."

While he and Ritsuka were talking, I shoveled the rest of the macaroni down my throat and finished off my drink. Now, I'm not the biggest fan of Coke, but it was my first soda in a while. I was a little enthusiastic.

Ahanu finished his conversation by, from what I could tell, teasing Ritsuka, and turned back to me, "He says that he was worried by what you said about the corruption of Interpol officers. He heard from a nurse when he was changing shifts that Constable Neyla was sorting out the transfer of your custody with hospital security and panicked, hence the impromptu escape. He ran home and back to the hospital before she got there and got some stuff to disguise you." He shrugged, "Ritsuka's a good guy, even if he doesn't know it."

I allowed myself a small smile, "So what now?"

Fox and cat shared a brief conversation, before the latter crossed over to me, "Ritsuka wants to change your bandages, then we'll take you back to the Cooper gang."

"Huh?" I started at the abruptness and matter-of-fact tone of his statement, causing Ritsuka to have to hold my head still, "Really?"

He shrugged, "Yeah. Ritsuka told me it was the safest place for you and that you wanted to be there anyhow, so why not? The entire city knows about the mini-war between Interpol and the Contessa's estate, which is where I'm assuming they are, from what you told Ritsuka. It may be tricky to get near there, but we can definitely get you in. Most people are trying to get away from there, not closer."

I ignored Ritsuka poking around a sore spot on the back of my head and gave an ear-splitting grin. "You are my new best friend. And tell Ritsuka I might just have to kiss him."

Ahanu did and it was like a continental shift occurred. One second, Ritsuka was standing next to me, the next he was on the other side of the kitchen, ears completely red, watching me warily.

I could have been offended or amused. As it was, I somehow managed to get a stitch in my side from laughing so hard. Ahanu wasn't much better. Ritsuka had the martyred expression of one used to being teased as he came back and gave my head an extra-hard prod, before telling Ahanu, in a kind of sulky tone, "Je to skoro uzdravil, prostě potřebuje obvazy na trochu více."

The fox caught his breath and translated, "Ritsuka says you're mostly healed, but still need bandages as a precaution."

I shrugged, "Okay. When are we going to head out?"

"As soon as he's done. It'll be better to do it in the dead of night anyhow."

I shrugged and complied as Ritsuka manipulated the angle of my head so he could get bandages secured around it that wouldn't fall off, "Oh, could you ask him what the odds are of getting my stuff back from the hospital?"

Ritsuka's reply was curt and slightly annoyed, "He says that Constable Neyla took them into possession as 'evidence'."

I grimaced, "I dislike her with great intensity."

Ahanu smirked, "Not hate?"

"I haven't ever actually met her. It'd have to be more personal to be hate." Ritsuka finished off the bandage and I stood, "Let's do this thing."

* * *

><p>"You have a sidecar?"<p>

Ahanu smirked again, "I like to mess with Ritsuka as often as possible."

"I can see that."

Aforementioned feline was staring at the sidecar with an expression of the utmost loathing. Then suddenly, _he_ smirked. That was scary. He started talking to Ahanu, gesturing from the sidecar to me and from him to the fox.

The smirk slid off Ahanu's face and he shook his head, "He can make a good argument when he wants to." He pulled off his goggles and tossed them to me, "You get to ride in the side car, Kaia."

"What?" Now I knew what Ritsuka's smirk meant. "Buh- but… why?"

"Ritsuka's smaller than you. It'll even out the weight more if he rides with me and you ride in the side car."

I grumbled as I pulled the goggles down over my eyes and put on my hood, "Tell him I retract my offer to kiss him."

At this revelation, Ritsuka made a show of wiping sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand and breathing a sigh of relief.

"Cheeky, isn't he?" I asked as I climbed in to the sidecar.

"Oh, you have no idea." Ahanu said with a super creepy grin, swinging a leg over the motorcycle and waiting until Ritsuka was on well behind him before handing the cat the helmet and gunning the engine.

It took a good half hour of darkness, cold, and needle-like rain before we got near the Contessa's estate. We had to pull over on the side of the road to keep the noise of the motorcycle from attracting any of the patrolling guards.

"Think you can make it from here?" Ahanu asked, putting down the kickstand.

I squinted out over the estate, "Yeah, a Cooper Safehouse isn't hard to find, if you know what to look for." Yeah, it's easy to find even if you don't. The van is always clearly visible. How have they never gotten caught?

"Well… okay then."

I turned back to them and there were a few seconds of awkward silence, "Thanks for everything, guys." Just for fun, I grabbed Ritsuka and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. You'd have thought I tazed him, from his expression.

Ahanu roared with laughter and waved me off when I tried to hand his goggles back to him, "Keep them, you never know when a good pair of goggles will come in handy. Besides, my name, number and address are sewn on the inside of the band, in case those get lost. Send me a post card of the next place you end up and we'll call it even."

With a wave, they took off into the night, Ritsuka in the sidecar of shame this time.

I squared my shoulders and turned back to the estate. It was time to put what I'd learned from the Thievius Raccoonus to the test.

* * *

><p>You know how hard it is to sneak into a heavily guarded fortress in the dead of night while wearing a white sweatshirt?<p>

Very.

Especially when the moon is full and not only illuminating the sweatshirt, but also your fur. White fur? Usually neat. Not so much when you're trying to be sneaky.

The Contessa' castle estate was ridiculous. It had a moat. A moat.

WTF, Contessa?

Thankfully, I didn't have to cross the moat to get to the Safehouse. I spotted _that_ quickly enough. Like I said, their van wasn't the most inconspicuous thing. The problem was the tanks.

Yeah, you read that right.

T.A.N.K.S.

They were apparently hanging around because the Safehouse was pretty much right nextdoor to Neyla's HQ. I couldn't wait to hear Bentley's logic for putting the Safehouse in the middle of a tank patrol route.

I had to avoid them exclusively. Y'know, so I didn't get blown into little, sticky pieces. The thing is, they had headlights attached to them that saw quite a ways. It took me a little over a half hour to figure out their patrol routines so I could slip by and by then I was a shivery mess.

Still, if there's one thing I've been called, it's stubborn. And loud, but we won't go _there_.

I made my way past the tanks and towards the Safehouse which, this time, appeared to be an old observation station with glass walls. Good for keeping an eye on everything, bad for keeping it subtle. Seriously, it was like the Safehouse had some kind of invisible barrier around it that just diverted guards and prying eyes. Actually, knowing Bentley, it might.

I slipped up the stairs and to the door, staying low so they couldn't see me through the windows. I peered in and saw that the turtle was standing on a chair to look over a massive map of the estate and surrounding area, Murray was completely absorbed in what looked like my Nintendo DS, and Sly was nowhere to be seen, probably out doing recon. Now was as good a time as any to slip in.

I took several deep, calming breaths, before the knot of anxiety in my stomach had enough time to make its way up to my throat, and pushed the door open.

Bentley looked up at my entrance and his jaw dropped, causing a pencil he'd been chewing on thoughtfully to clatter to the table. Murray blinked, taking several seconds to process my entrance.

Even with the storm going on outside, the room was dead silent.

"You know," I said, trying to lighten the mood, "You guys really ought to lock the door."

"We'll keep that in mind."

I jumped when the voice tickled in my ear and looked over my shoulder at Sly, who was staring down at me with brown eyes thoughtful and amused and… something else I couldn't identify.

He closed the door behind him and I smiled sheepishly, folding my arms behind my back, "Err… hi?"

He chuckled and reached out to touch the bandage over my eyes, "Somehow I knew we hadn't seen the last of you."

I gave him a competitive smirk, "You can't get rid of me that easily."

That apparently broke the spell the room was under. I didn't even have time to turn around before I was practically steamrolled by Murray, who swept me up into a bear hug with a whoop. After having all the vertebrae in my back popped, he set me down and I gave Bentley a hug, 'cause he was just standing there awkwardly.

Then I turned around and was in Sly's arms. I was surprised that we was so warm after being outside.

And just like that, I was back in.

* * *

><p>Between me getting changed (they'd held onto my backpack, for some reason, so I had a dry set of clothes) and planning out the current job, the story of our separation came out.<p>

When I'd jumped from the blimp, Sly had caught me, but lost his balance on the wall and we'd both fallen. Now, the rocks surrounding the prison were not the best things to fall down, so we both got banged up pretty bad, but I'd hit my head and it was bleeding pretty profusely.

Bentley's medical knowledge was limited and he had absolutely no idea what to do about a head injury (a fact that he told me he intended to remedy as soon as possible), so they'd driven me to the nearest hospital and dropped me off in the emergency room for care because, let's face it, they were international criminals and couldn't stick around. Somehow, this annoyed me less now. I wondered why that was.

"But what about you?" I asked Sly, "Are you okay?"

He shrugged, "I've been worse."

"That doesn't make me feel _any_ better."

Anyways, when Sly was doing recon, he found out about Carmelita being an unwilling guest of the Contessa, who was using her as a test subject to calibrate the Clockwerk Eyes as a hypnotizing tool. Stupid Klaww Gang and their paranormal Clockwerk parts…

"Guh, now I see why all the Clockwerk parts need to be destroyed. Even individually they cause headaches."

"It took you this long?" Bentley asked sarcastically.

I kicked the chair he was standing on.

After a few more moments of discussion, Bentley retreated to go over the pictures Sly had taken during recon, which left me, Murray, and the raccoon himself trying to entertain ourselves.

Things went exactly as well as expected.

* * *

><p>"That was really, really stupid." I muttered, winding a bandage around Sly's arm, which was also slathered in burn ointment.<p>

He gave me a sidelong grin, "Fun though."

"No, Sly, sliding along electrically charged wires that are interspersed with trans… trans… those things that are like, super-conductors, is _not_ fun. It's dangerous." Somewhat begrudgingly, I felt inclined to add, "Whether or not fun was had is an entirely different matter."

That earned me a much more hearty laugh than it deserved. I caught myself staring at Sly with blatant suspicion. "Did you hit your head when I wasn't looking?" Catching him trying to smother giggles behind a hand, my suspicion morphed into horror, "Oh, God, you're not _hyper_ are you?"

"I can't help it!" He said, trying to swallow his amusement, "Everything's going right! You came back, we're gonna get Carmelita out, the gang's back together…"

I shook my head at him while I tied off the bandage. I couldn't exactly _blame_ him for being glad that three bad situations had been resolved, but still, "Have you been getting any sleep at all?" It's universally known that there is a point between sleep-deprivation and total exhaustion where everything is _hilarious_.

"Nope."

"That'd do it," I muttered to myself, seizing Sly's forearms, which had thankfully healed from the ordeal in the jungle, and hauling him to his feet, "You need to get some sl-" I cut myself off when Sly slumped against me, "Are you still conscious?"

"Mmhmm…" he drew the sound out, sliding his arms around me, for support, I thought, before it became perfectly clear that he had no intention of moving.

"Sly?"

"I like hugs," he muttered, as if to himself, "But Bentley's not a very huggy person and Murray breaks people."

I wasn't sure what to say to that. Sly sounded off; more off than someone who was just sleep deprived should sound. "Sly, are you okay?"

"Oh, look, Bentley's done setting up for the slideshow." And he walked inside, leaving me to wonder what that all had been about and to realize just how cold it was.

* * *

><p>"Well, what about me?" I asked as the slideshow ended. Everyone had gotten a job but me and I didn't intend to just sit around waiting for them to come back. I had a score to settle with the Contessa too.<p>

Bentley checked the sights on his crossbow as he answered. "You coordinate our missions. We were going to have to space them out to make sure someone was always at the Safehouse, but this way we can pull them off almost simultaneously."

I fought off the eye twitch. "That sounds like a very weak excuse."

"Ah, come on Jinx." I blinked and caught the incoming juice box, "We'd already had most of the plan when you showed up again. Cut us a break."

I found myself staring at the juice box long after everyone had left, contemplating both whether Sly was making a play on my age or not and how on Earth he'd gotten Juicy Juice in the Czech Republic.

* * *

><p>"Okay, apparently," I looked rapidly between the monitor that displayed the view from Sly's binocucom, the maps spread out on the table, and Bentley's notes. "You need to go into that creepy catacomb and smash up the coffin of an evil wolf priestess."<p>

_"Sounds pretty harsh. Does the old girl really deserve that sort of treatment?"_

I rubbed my forehead, "Sly, in Bentley's notes, 'evil' is capitalized and underlined three times."

_"Ah."_

"Once you smash up the coffin, it'll apparently free all the ghosts trapped in there with her."

_"Okay, I don't know where Bentley's going with all this, but freeing trapped ghosts sounds vaguely heroic."_

"Ah the sentimentality. Just try not to inhale until you get outside, after you smash up the coffin. Inhaling bone dust can lead to I don't know how many diseases."

_"Thanks. Thanks for that."_

I glanced over at the screens and saw Bentley was nearly at his objective. I managed to switch over to his channel just in time to hear him say, "I KNEW it! I knew she'd have a bad mojo collector to transport the overflow."

I sighed, "Okay, Bentley, you're going to have to run this by me again, especially since I just sent Sly to free ghosts, which I don't believe in, and now we're talking magic?"

"It's a semi-magical device." Bentley explained, "I'll need it to gather the run-off from these spouts."

"What, there are just spouts that spit black magic? That's creepy, but sounds easy enough."

"Not really. Bad mojo is a powerfully destructive force. Take any damage while carrying the collector and you're done for."

"You mean _you're_ done for. I'm safely in the Safehouse. Being safe."

"You're just _precious,_ you know that?"

I snickered. It was great fun to get Bentley riled up. "Okay, okay, I give. I'm sure you have some sort of plan, right?"

"Yes, it presents an interesting tactical challenge. Perhaps I can use the death traps native to these crypts to against any foe that might attempt to thwart my collection of the ectoplasm."

"Ectoplasmic death traps. Just like Mom used to make."

"Your jocular wit gives me fits of adulate glee."

Switching over to my connection with Murray, I readjusted my headset, "Alright Murray, talk to me. You got a visual on the General yet?"

**"Nope. Just an old man coming up the ramp."**

I glanced at the screen, then back at Bentley's notes. "Actually, that's General Clawfoot. Apparently he's really tough and head of castle security. He's the guy we need to talk to."

**"What if he doesn't want to come? I don't want to hurt him."**

Something about hearing that honest concern in such an innocent voice was adorable. "Don't worry about it. According to Bentley, you couldn't hurt him even if you wanted to. It looks like he's only scared of fire and water. You could probably use him to beat other guards."

**"Wow. That's handy."**

Leaving Murray to it, I switched back to Sly, who'd smashed up the coffin and was booking it out of the crypt. I waited until he'd perched on a nearby spire and was gulping lungfuls of air to contact him.

"So? How'd it go?"

_"There are ghosts. Six of them."_

"Wait, what?" I watched in disbelief as Sly directed his binocucom and, sure enough, there were glowing, skeletal forms flying around the estate. "I-… I don't even… what?" It was that singular moment that I became very glad that I wasn't afraid of ghosts.

_"She's speechless! We must document this moment for all of history!"_

I grumbled into the microphone and consulted Bentley's notes again, "Okay, apparently your binocucom camera has been tweaked to capture ghosts. How Bentley did that, I'm not even going to question."

_"Didn't I just set these guys free? Why would I want to capture them again?"_

He was taking the whole 'ghost' thing very calmly. I read ahead in Bentley's notes and smirked. "Oh, don't worry, Sly. It won't be for long. In fact, you get to set them free down the chimney of Neyla's headquarters. Won't that be nice?"

There was a chuckle. _"I get you, she'll think it's a sneak attack from the Contessa."_

"Yup, from what I can decipher from Bentley's notes, Neyla should buy more firepower in response. I don't know how that's good for us, but he somehow proved it with math, so I'm not questioning it."

_"Anything bad for the Contessa is good for us… and we get to really freak out Neyla!"_ The almost childlike glee in that exclamation had me laughing as I went over to check up on Bentley.

"How's it going?"

"Half… done… so… many… buttons…"

"Way to be a team player. Murray, what's up?"

**"I've got the General but he keeps… kicking me… in the face!"**

"I believe in you!"

* * *

><p>There we go! A fun chapter to make up for the distinct lack of gang last time. Have a good Thanksgiving, everyone! God bless and feel free to let me know what you think!<p> 


	10. Outings and Gravity

Grrr... I just typed up this chapter, then lost it. ANGER! But yes, hallo again everyone! This chapter comes to you as a product of frost bite and sleep deprivation. And because a lovely regular reviewer, Versia Aremis, messaged me and asked hopefully if the chapter would be long, since it was taking forever.

Well played. And yes, it's 2000 words longer than the last chapter.

Let's see, after this chapter there's... two or three more and an epilogue! We're getting down to the end, people!

* * *

><p>"You're evil, Kaia."<p>

"Aw, Murray, that's mean!" I carefully placed another Band-Aid over a scratch on his forehead. "I had to disinfect the cuts, who knows where General Clawfoot, quite an apt name, given the circumstances, has been walking?"

"You're also not allowed to work the Binocucom Station anymore." Bentley chipped in, carefully transferring 'Bad Mojo' from the collector he'd used while running all over the grounds, to a slightly more stable-looking set of cylinders.

"What? Why not?" I asked, gathering the Band-Aid trash and letting Murray up off the couch. He was so massive that, for me to get to his head, I had to be standing up and he had to be sitting.

"Because, while you're laughing at our misery, Bentley would be giving us advice on how to get out of our situations." Sly grumbled, scratching at his own new bandages.

I hid a smile behind my hand, "Oh, please, you were never in any real danger. Besides, if you'd just given me a job to do, none of this would have happened."

"Oh, trust me, I've learned my lesson," Bentley said, having set aside his cylinders and instead set up the all too familiar slide machine, "Have a seat, everyone."

Since I was already at the couch, I just hopped onto the arm rest. This was a bad idea, as it tempted Sly to reach out, drag me down next to him, and start a tickle war.

And Sly was apparently crap at resisting temptation.

* * *

><p>"But wait!" I exclaimed from behind the fort I'd made out of a table and one of Murray's spare shirts. I'd created it as soon as I'd managed to escape Sly, "I'm not in that plan either!"<p>

"You just said you needed a job to do," Bentley pointed out, hefting a canvas bag and tossing it to me. I caught it with surprise; it was heavier than it looked. "You get to put together the paraglider Sly's using for the heist. It just came in from ThiefNet."

"It still worries me that the police haven't found this thief-supplying website. What are those cyber-cops doing all the time, playing World Of Warcraft?" I said as I set the canvas bag on the table. When I unzipped it, thick cloth and plenty of odds and ends came tumbling out, "Are you sure you want to put me in charge of putting this stuff together?"

"Yeah, that's what I was wondering." Sly said, eyeing me like I'd set the supplies on fire, "You usually put everything together, Bentley."

Bentley reached into a side pocket of the canvas bag and pulled out a small booklet. "Don't worry, there're instructions. There's absolutely no way she can mess this up."

* * *

><p>"Well," I said, looking at the tangle of cord and cloth in front of me, "It can't get any <em>worse<em>… I hope."

I leapt up happily when I heard Sly talking to Bentley through the binocucom station.

"… complex, medieval, gauntlet of _death_."

"What's a complex medieval gauntlet of death?" I asked, coming up behind the chair where Sly was sitting, leaning against the back and snagging his hat, twirling it around the tips of my fingers.

"The crypt Bentley has to hack into." He said, before tripping me with his tail and catching his hat as it flew out of my hands mid-fall.

I pried myself off the floor and had a look at the screen Sly was staring at, whistling when I saw what he was talking about. "Bentley, why'd you assign yourself this job if there were so many booby traps?"

"I thought they'd be subtle, you know, trip wires and pressure sensors and spike pits. I didn't think they'd be so…" he directed his binocucom at the center of the room, "Excessive."

And excessive they were. Think 'medieval torture chamber' excessive. There were rolling spike logs that, interspersed with the spikes on the floor, would put more holes in you than a submachine gun if you weren't fast enough. We couldn't even see what was in the rooms beyond.

"Yes, well, while the idea of jumping down a crypt filled with whirling, razor sharp spikes, might scare me, in fact terrorize my every fiber, it's the only way to power up that old computer in the 're-education' tower. Without that thing online, we'll never get at the Clockwerk eyes _or_ free Carmelita." Bentley explained, knowing just how to play on Sly's emotions.

Said raccoon sighed, "You're a good man Bentley… just make sure those traps don't rip you into a hundred little turtle pieces."

"… why'd you have to say that?"

I laughed at the look on Bentley's face, but something caught my eye in the hallway behind him. Those logs had a pattern… and there were a couple of safe patches, you could tell from the lack of gravel around them. I perked up.

"Uh-oh." I heard Bentley say, "Sly, Kaia's got that look again."

I dodged Sly's one armed grabbed easily, "I can help, Bentley! I'll be there in a few minutes, don't do anything!"

"If you can escape Sly, I'll see you here."

"No you won't!" Sly said, sounding scandalized. I grinned, knowing he couldn't catch me. When he was installing the voice modulator, he'd rolled his ankle. It hadn't been bad, especially since he'd been so close and I'd been able to wrap it and have him stick it in a bucket of ice immediately. He'd be fine in time for the heist… if he didn't put any weight on it between now and then.

I smothered a giggle. Sure, he was between me and the door, but I was feeling kind of giddy. Probably had something to do with the sleep deprivation, or the adrenaline. Besides, he was being really careful with his hurt leg. I could get around him.

"Don't even think about it." He growled, but I was already plotting. Let's see… how to get him away from the door?

I darted toward where his cane leaned against the wall, by the beat-up couch that had been in that room for only God-knew-how-long. He lunged to protect his precious cane, as I thought he would, and I darted past him, grabbing his cap again.

"See you in a few, Sly." I threw the door open, paused for a second to readjust the hat on my head and wink at Sly, who was still hobbling after me, then darted back out into the rain.

* * *

><p>"Hey, you actually made it." Bentley only sounded half surprised when I met up with him in the crypt.<p>

"Yeah," I said, wringing out Sly's hat of rainwater. I twirled a crowbar I'd picked up along the way in my hands. "He's gonna kill me later, though."

"I don't doubt it." The turtle stood. "So, I'm guessing you were going to volunteer to help with the 'complex medieval gauntlet of death'." He gestured the hall and I nodded.

"Yup! I saw a pattern in the traps and I can jump farther than you anyhow."

"And how do you propose to know what you need to collect?"

I grinned and crouched down, gesturing to my back.

"No."

"C'mon, Bentley! You weigh like what- fifteen pounds?"

"Fifty-six, but that's not the point!" His face was a particularly dark shade of green. "It's-"

"What? Demeaning? Maybe, but it's also the safest way to go about this. Besides, I'm more stubborn than you are."

"You wanna bet?"

* * *

><p>I bet. I actually won, too, much to Bentley's dismay.<p>

"Slow down!"

It had been awhile since I'd done gymnastics or tumbling of any kind and it was actually pretty fun. Sure, one misstep or wrongly timed jump and Bentley and I would be skewered, but it could have been worse, I'm sure.

The adrenaline didn't hurt either.

First was the room with the rolling spike logs and the few squares of tile that weren't interspersed with spikes that would rise at the first sign of pressure to impale whoever was standing on them. We checked, we threw a rock.

Once I'd convinced Bentley to stop complaining and get on my back, I headed for the left of the room. I waited for a log to roll by, then ran out, jumping over another to land on a middle tile, then around the last one, following the log closely, then another leap and I was safely on the other side.

"See, that wasn't so bad, Bentley! … Bentley?"

The turtle seemed too traumatized to speak.

"Glad you agree. Onward, then!"

Down a short, dark, spiral stairwell that made me think of Hogwarts and into another, larger room, with more rolling logs and spikes.

Bentley whimpered something indiscernible, but I cut him off with a whoop brought on purely by adrenaline and leapt into the whirling fray.

I laughed at Bentley's horror-struck expression after we emerged, victorious, "C'mon Bentley! It's just like DDR, just with blades!"

After this room came a hallway of swinging blades. There were only a few patches of stone to stand on that didn't have spikes protruding from them, which turned it from trying to time a jump so we didn't get cut in half to timing it so we didn't get cut in half _and_ landed on a patch of flooring that wouldn't kill us.

"I felt the wind from that one," Bentley complained.

"No you didn't, it was on the other side of the hallway, stop being such a baby."

Up another winding staircase, to a room that only had two rolling logs that would begin on opposite side of the room and crash into each other, then went back to their previous positions.

"Oh, this one's _easy_."

Run, ignore Bentley screaming in my ear, jump just when the logs are about to crush my ankles, land, and jump again to clear the room.

Then another rolling log room. Cake.

The last room was filled with dark, murky water, broken only by a few boards floating in it for passage across. I frowned, thinking it seemed a bit too easy, and told Bentley to hold on tighter. Then I jumped.

Yeah, I really hadn't expected the sea monster.

At least, that's what I assumed it was. All I knew was that when pink tentacles twice my size shot out of the water and tried to grab my tail, seven years of gymnastics kicked in.

* * *

><p>"So…" Sly said sourly as Bentley and I trudged into the Safehouse with the expressions of those hunted by the damned, "How was it?"<p>

"Why are there sea monsters in the crypts?" I grumbled, depositing a traumatized Bentley on the couch next to a snoring Murray. "Seriously, we're land-locked. How did it even get here?" I dropped Sly's hat next to the keyboard and sighed, cracking my back, "I do _not_ envy you guys the work. The fame, I get. The treasure, I get. The life-threatening monsters and traps? Not at all."

"So many spikes…"

Sly twisted to give his reptilian friend a moderately concerned and amused look, "Did you break Bentley's mind?"

"… no…"

"…"

"Well, not on purpose." I finally managed to get my back to crack and sighed, "The adrenaline was pretty awesome though. It was fun, in hindsight." I grinned nervously, "Sneaking by the guards terrified me though."

Sly grinned too, but there was an odd expression on his face. I frowned at his glassy eyes and crossed the distance to the desk quickly, placing my hand gently on his forehead.

"You're burning up! Why aren't you asleep anyway?" A thought struck me, "You weren't waiting up, were you?"

He stood and gave me a sarcastic smile, "Who, me?"

I realized uncomfortably how close he was and took a step back, "You should get some sleep! You're not allowed to die on the heist."

"I'll keep that in mind," We'd been whispering since I came in, but this time he whispered right into my ear, tickling the fur on my neck. I turned to give him a confused look, but he was already hobbling out of the room with his makeshift crutch.

I probably would have been more worried… if I didn't catch sight of the tangled mess of what was supposed to be a glider on the table… that was right, I still had to finish it.

I sighed and rubbed at the lingering feeling on my neck. I headed for the table, checking the time on one of Bentley's laptops as I did…

Five in the morning. Awesome. When I got home, my sleeping schedule was going to be so screwed up…

Come to think of it… when was I going home?

I frowned as I took a seat and pulled the tangled mass of canvas and cord towards me. That was a good question. Here I was, nearly on the other side of the world, and had no idea when or how I was going to get home. I mean… I guess I could just go to the police whenever I wanted and I'd get home but… That would be like telling the guys I didn't like them.

I could just explain that I wanted to go home, I guess, but I didn't really, not yet at least. I missed my friends and dad, sure, but… this was fun, running around the world without a care, doing some seriously good stuff. But the longer I was gone, the more school I missed, the more I fell behind, the more I fell out of my life.

And I knew in my head this couldn't last forever, but I didn't want to cut it short either.

And would I ever see them again, after I went home? Bentley made my head hurt after a while and talking to Murray was like talking to a mentally handicapped six-year-old, but it was hard to spend so much time in adrenaline-pounding situations and close quarters with people and not bond with them.

And Sly was already a great friend of mine. He wasn't like anyone I'd ever met. Most people were concerned with the future so much that they missed out on the present. Sly was all excitement and happiness and taking things day by day. But he wasn't stupid either and I knew that he and the gang had to be hoarding their spoils for the someday when they 'retired'. He could be serious when he needed to be, like when his friends were in danger, or at least people he perceived to be his friends. That was easily seen in how insistent he was

It was hard to imagine my life without the guys now. Really hard.

I sighed and rested my head in my hand. I didn't like thinking seriously about these things. I was tired and the pouring sky was a shade lighter, which meant the sun had risen, which meant it was long past bedtime.

I looked back at the table and found that I'd somehow managed to assemble the paraglider. Um, when had that happened? Seriously, the instruction booklet was across the table, unopened.

I shook my head and stood to go to bed. I didn't even want to know.

* * *

><p>The plan for the heist was for Murray to sneak in and turn off the castle's defenses, then for Bentley to take over the radio channel the mercenaries operated on and get them to attack the castle. An elaborate distraction, which made it all the more effective.<p>

Meanwhile, Sly would paraglide Bentley and I over to the blimp, an experience I immediately blocked from my memory, and we'd highjack that too, as a means of transport and escape from the estate. The process of 'acquiring' the blimp in itself showed me something new. Sly could fight. He could fight well. Kind of frighteningly well, to be honest. I wondered what his cane was made of not to show the dents…

We used the blimp to fly up to the 're-education tower' and I stayed on it to make sure nothing went wrong and Bentley and Sly ran inside to free Carmelita and snag the Clockwerk Eyes.

All was going to plan… until I heard the explosion. I adjusted my earbud and listened closely. Since neither Sly nor Bentley were speaking into their mics, their voices were faint, but discernable.

_"Bentley! You okay…?"_

"cough cough… This is no place for an asthmatic… but I've managed to locate one of the Clockwerk Eyes! Can you find the other?"

_"No worries, chaps. It's safely in hand."_

Oh son of a-

_"Neyla?"_

_"Thanks for clearing out the Contessa. Nothing I did could pry her away from the Clockwerk Eyes. Hmm… one should be enough for the old bird… Ta ta!"_

_"Bentley take the Eye and escape on the blimp; I'm going after Neyla!"_

"But- the plan! It… this wasn't in the plan!"

I silently agreed with Bentley, but started going over the blimp to make sure nothing would impede our escape. In seconds, Bentley came barreling out of the tower and leapt onto the blimp, passing the (heavy!) Clockwerk eye to me to be stowed in my backpack and running over to the helm.

Just as we started to pull away from the tower, we heard over the radio, _"Attention all bombers, target your fire on the Contessa's blimp!_"

_"Heads up, guys, you're about to come under fire! Get to the blimp's turret and stay sharp!"_

I would have said something sarcastic, but Sly's slightly breathless and genuinely worried tone gave me pause and I replied into the binocucom mic, "Just get that other Eye, we'll take care of this one!"

"Kaia!" Bentley waved me to the turrets, focusing himself on getting the blimp to safety as fast as it could possibly go, which wasn't very fast, even for a blimp.

The turret, through sheer luck and good fortune, was the same model as the one I'd piloted in the helicopter in Rajan's temple, seemingly forever ago. It was located on the underside of the blimp and made me feel like I was in the _Millennium Falcon_, gunning down tie fighters.

The wind coming through the gaps stung my eyes and I used the precious few seconds before the bombers descended on us to pull Ahanu's goggles (which had until then been hanging around my neck) up over my eyes. Then I gripped the turret and started firing.

Fortunately, the greenish color of the bombers stood out very starkly against the bleak landscape and the purple-orange sky, making them easy to spot. I'm not gonna lie and say it was easy. I'm certainly not gonna say the blimp didn't suffer a few hits, but it was still flying when the last mercenary bailed out of his plane.

"Get back here Contessa! That getaway blimp won't save you!"

At least, it was still flying until a shock pistol bolt peeled out from the towers and blew up something on the back of the blimp that was apparently flammable

"Merciful Hades!"

I could safely assume from the sudden tug of gravity and the fact that Bentley was calling on the Greek god of the dead that we were in trouble. I started to scramble up the ladder, his voice screaming in my ear, calling for Sly.

"Sly, can you read me? Carmelita shot out the guidance system and the blimp's descending at a decidedly unsafe rate! We're going down! Down! Doowwwwwww-!"

* * *

><p><span>"… is anyone there… I'm alive! Wha-!"<span>

"Hands up, turtle."

The binocucom crackling in my ear mixed with the close voice of Bentley and the much closer voice of Carmelita.

"You've got the Clockwerk Eye? Give it here."

I wrestled my eyes open and saw Carmelita, shock pistol trained on Bentley, eyes scouring the wreckage for the telltale shine the Eye would give off. My head was fuzzy and I tasted metal. Shock, probably. That could also explain why nothing hurt.

I staggered to my feet, Carmelita whirling and pointing her gun at me until she recognized me, then she pointed it right back at Bentley, who appeared to be relatively unharmed. I shrugged off my backpack and opened it, showing the contents to Carmelita, "I've… got the Eye." Just get that pistol away from the nerd.

Her gaze flicked rapidly between Bentley and I. She finally favored the turtle with a Death Glare. He swallowed loudly, "Keep your hands up for _ten minutes_ after I leave. I'll be watching you…"

She grabbed my hand and tugged me over to a tank she'd apparently acquired herself, pushing me inside before I could think twice. She closed the hatch and settled into the seat, gripping the control sticks on either side of it.

"You okay, Kaia?"

The question caught me off guard for some reason, "I… think so."

"Good."

A weak voice filled my ear, Bentley was talking to himself, _"_Carmelita has the Eye and Kaia… Oh man, the guys are gonna kill me…_"_

"Okay…" Carmelita muttered to herself, pressing buttons and jerking levers at random. "How's this thing work? What's this thing do… and this?"

I was thrown back and forth from the sudden stops and starts and muttering, "I'm gonna die…" when she finally gained a tentative grasp of how to drive the thing.

"Guys, help! Carmelita took the Eye and she's trying to get away in one of the Contessa's tanks!"

**"Don't worry about it, little buddy. I won't let her get away."**

Hey, there was Murray! Having not heard from him the entire heist I'd kind of assumed he was dead.

Wait- how was he planning on stopp-

**BANG!**

Was he shooting at us?

"Keep shooting at the tank to stop it! But be careful, Carmelita and Kaia are both in there!"

"Yeah, Murray, be careful!" I hissed as Carmelita swore and tried to maneuver out of the hippo's line of fire, with varying degrees of success.

He took out the treads with surprisingly precise shots, forcing the tank to halt. While Carmelita was wrestling with her restraints, I scrambled out of the tank, taking the Clockwerk Eye in my backpack, and scrambled across slick cobblestone to Murray's tank.

"Greetings, fair maiden! Are you-?"

"Talk later, Murray, drive now!"

* * *

><p>I winced when Bentley applied evermore antiseptic. "Bentley, how on Earth did you get out of that crash unscathed?" I was sitting cross-legged in the back of the van while Murray drove aimless circles around the police blockade, waiting for Sly to come out. We'd managed to slip away before the authorities hit full-force, but the thief had yet to emerge. Bentley was applying various antiseptics and ointments to my many scrapes and burns. He himself only had a few bruises.<p>

"You got me. I'm not questioning it, though."

The passenger's side door opened. "Probably a smart move."

I perked up immediately. "Sly, you made it out alive!"

"You sound so surprised." He teased, wringing out his cap. Murray revved the engine and we took off, away from the scene, "Guess what I got to do?"

"What?" Murray interrupted before I could guess something ridiculous.

"Okay, so I has heading out to find you guys… and I saw a bunch of police officers crowded around this random spot. I went over to check it out and it turns out they were surrounding Carmelita! I got to help her escape! It was awesome!"

I cracked up, trying to imagine the look on Carmelita's face. "Oh, I bet that stung!"

"As entertainingly jocular as this is," Bentley drawled, "We need to lay low for a while and I don't have a new Safehouse set up!"

I yawned, toying with the goggles around my neck as I listened to them brainstorm. Then I grinned.

"I know a place!"

* * *

><p><strong>Knock, knock…<strong>

"It's three in th- Kaia? What are you-"

"Hi, Ahanu!" I pushed past the stunned fox and made a beeline for the living area, "Hi, couch!" Flop. "Goodnight, moon."

* * *

><p>The until-recently-asleep fox passed out coffee, tea, and soda to the three thieves sitting at his dining room table and began to question just when his life had gotten so insane. He glanced over his shoulder at the slate-grey hybrid that he clearly remembered being <em>white<em>, passed out on his couch and drooling slightly.

He looked at the LED light on his oven and ran a hand through his hair when he saw the cheerful green lights blink **5:30** at him. He flopped down in his own chair, gripping his coffee cup like a life preserver. "So, let me get this straight. _You_ guys are the infamous Cooper gang that has Interpol chasing their tails?"

The raccoon, turtle, and hippo in front of him did not look older than he was by a long shot. And he was twenty-four. The turtle nodded, the hippo was falling asleep in his chair and the raccoon, the famed 'Sly Cooper', apparently, appeared to be trying to divine the secret of the universe by inhalation of coffee fumes.

"And you just pulled a heist and are looking for a place to lay low because Interpol is going over the countryside with a fine-toothed comb?"

"Look," Cooper himself finally spoke, looking Ahanu dead in the eye, "Normally, we wouldn't ask something like this, we're relatively self-reliant. But Interpol came down a lot harder and faster than we thought they would. Frankly, we don't have another option and…" he looked over at Kaia with an expression that Ahanu could relate to, before turning back, "Jinx seemed to think you were trustworthy."

Ahanu smirked a little. Jinx, huh? He'd have to hear the story behind that one. "Well," he stood, making his way to his bedroom, "So long as you guys don't do anything to draw attention to yourselves and get me arrested for aiding and abetting, you can stay. Guest room's over there, you can fight over the bed. Bathroom's there. I'm heading to work."

There was a beat of silence, then a mad scramble for the guest room. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, noting absently that he needed a haircut. The things he did for that cat…

* * *

><p>I woke up with the feeling of grogginess and stiffness that accompanies a deep sleep. Also, to the feeling of someone poking around my cuts from the night before.<p>

I opened my eyes a sliver and, once my blurry vision cleared, saw a familiar black face and violet eyes.

"Ritsu-?"

He held a finger to his lips and pointed to my right. I frowned and shifted slightly to see the Sly was sprawled out on the remainder of the couch, mouth open, one leg propped on my back, the other dangling off the couch.

So _that_ was why I was warm.

I grimaced when I realized how close his foot was to my face and gingerly slid out from under his leg and onto the floor. With Ritsuka's help, I managed to get him situated a little better and then drew the curtains so the sunlight wouldn't wake the nocturnal beast.

I then followed Ritsuka to Ahanu's room when he beckoned. I groaned aloud when I saw a first-aid kit open on the bed, but everyone's favorite nurse had managed to get between me and the door and pointed to the bed with a no-nonsense expression.

"They're just a couple of cuts and burns," I grumbled, crawling onto the bed, "They already got treated and everything."

Ritsuka pulled a face, then rummaged in a backpack by the bed, pulling out a laptop and handing it to me once he'd brought up Google Translator.

I took the laptop, but said, "You know, I'm tempted not to even use this just to annoy you." He started to make vague strangling motions and I sighed, "Fine, fine."

After filling Ritsuka in (he'd pretty much just come after Ahanu called him, telling him that we'd crashed at his apartment), he told me that the hospital had been in chaos when my disappearance was discovered. Fortunately, he told me, he had been able to avoid implication. Mostly because Neyla thought he was one of the patients when she tore through the pediatric ward, looking for the culprit.

I cracked up upon hearing that and Ritsuka glared at me with a martyred expression, but his lips were twitching a little.

Then he produced a little cloth-covered box and handed it to me.

I tilted my head to the side, inspecting it. It was a little smaller than a CD case might have been, and soft to the touch. I opened it, nearly dropped it, then leapt on Ritsuka, throwing my arms around him.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Sly was standing in the doorway, smirking like a crazy person, tail idly waving behind him. Ritsuka was trying his very, very best to get out of my grasp, and I was grinning so much it hurt.

He squeaked and doubled his efforts when he saw Sly and I laughed, tightening my grip. "Aw, don't make fun of our loooovveee…."

Ritsuka may not have known English, but at my tone he slipped out of my hold and practically teleported himself across the room, putting a chair between the two of us, red in the face.

"What was that all about?" Sly asked, coming over and rubbing at his eyes. He obviously wasn't completely awake.

I held up the box, "Looky, looky!"

It was the necklace Sly had given me, the one that had been left at the hospital. I didn't know how Ritsuka had gotten it back and, quite frankly, I didn't care.

Sly blinked slowly, not comprehending. "It's your necklace?"

"It got taken away from me when I got to the hospital. Wearing jewelry interferes with I don't know how many tests. My stuff was seized as evidence, but Ritsuka managed to get this back for me." I wrestled to get the clasp to work behind my neck.

There was a quick 'click-clack' of keyboard keys and then Ritsuka was back on the other side of the room. I glanced down.

"Apparently, my clothes were torn up and really dirty, so they were thrown away. Awesome. I really liked that shirt."

"Does that guy not speak English?" Sly asked, indicating Ritsuka with his tail.

I shook my head, "Nope, he lives here and is friends with Ahanu, that's how I knew him. Ritsuka was one of the nurses at the hospital I woke up in and we got to talking this way." I tapped the laptop with a finger, "He also helped me sneak out when Neyla was coming to get me on behalf of Interpol."

Sly looked across the room at Ritsuka, "Děkujeme vám."

Ritsuka blinked slowly in surprise, "N-není zač."

"What the hell, you know Czech?"

The raccoon smirked at me, "What, you thought you knew all my dirty little secrets?"

"In perfect honesty, Sly, I think if I ever claimed to know everything about you, you'd do or learn something ridiculous just to screw with my head, wouldn't you?"

"… Maybe."

* * *

><p>We wound up staying with Ahanu for three days. That was how long it took the hubbub of the Contessa's arrest to die down. Evidently, as a part of Interpol's PR management of the incident, they promoted Neyla to Captain. It set my teeth on edge just to think about it, so I dug around in Ahanu's closet until I found some old games and the gang and I spent the rest of our time playing old versions of Mario Party.<p>

Well, most of our time, anyway. Surprisingly, Ritsuka got along really well with Sly and Bentley, well enough to convince them to submit to a routine physical, during which we found out Sly had walking pneumonia.

Yes, you read that right.

Of course, after Ritsuka had had a fit and Bentley had translated to Murray and I (well, just me really. We had to explain what was going on to Murray with small words and crayon drawings), the turtle and I proceeded to berate Sly for not telling us he was sick.

The raccoon simply raised an eyebrow, kicked his feet up on the couch, and grinned, "Didn't know you were so concerned, Jinx."

It took the combined force of Bentley, Ahanu, and Ritsuka to pull me off the raccoon when I attempted to smother him with a throw pillow.

Thankfully, it only took Sly a couple of days to completely recover, especially after Ritsuka showed up with a bottle of shiftily-obtained antibiotics, since apparently he'd already been sick for something like a week and a half.

By that time, we were all getting pretty stir crazy. I'd never had the urge to be doing something at all times before I met the Cooper gang, I'd been more than content to laze about all day or simply hang out with friends, but now I just wanted to be _doing_ something.

So when Bentley finally declared the location of the next Klaww Gang member, we were a bit excited.

Okay, a lot excited.

We packed up the van, said goodbye to Ahanu and Ritsuka, and hit the road. Then and only then would Bentley let us know where we were headed, he hadn't wanted to clue us in if there was a way that Ahanu and Ritsuka would learn of it, not because he thought they'd rat us out, but because the less they knew, the better.

Utilizing a small portion of the gang's illegally-obtained funds, Bentley had procured a small boat that was capable of taking us to, of all places, Canada.

* * *

><p>Another chapter over!<p>

Ah, we're getting towards the end, guys! Don't worry, there will be a sequel, but I probably won't put it on here until Sly4 comes out. I want to play it before posting the sequel, just in case of conflicting plots.

But, anyhow, I hope you enjoyed, please let me know what you think, and God Bless!


	11. Friends and Avalanches

It's less than a week until Christmas! When did that happen?

Two more chapters and the Epilogue! This story is just flying away.

Seriously, when did that happen?

Okay, as I was typing this up, the Document Manager started getting a little wonky with the pagebreaks. I think they're all working, but if there's one missing, let me know and I'll try to fix it.

On with the chapter!

* * *

><p>For my benefit, the briefing was held on the deck of the boat. After a few hours of driving that led us back to, of all places, Paris, we'd driven the van onto what appeared to be a ferry, but which held a massive below-deck area that housed several small sleeping quarters and a galley.<p>

After only a few minutes on the open seas, I'd emptied my lunch over the side of the boat.

"I'd murder someone for some Dramamine right now." I moaned to no one in particular, clutching the railing in a death grip and letting my head rest limply on the cool metal, squeezing my eyes tightly shut. The motion sickness tablets Bentley had acquired back in Paris had run out that morning, but we'd thought that I surely wouldn't get seasick as well as carsick. Sly had pulled the Jinx crack immediately after I'd gotten sick, of course.

Bentley was perched on a crate nearby, typing away at his laptop, though how he got an internet connection in the middle of the Atlantic was beyond me. Murray was happily tinkering with something under the hood of the van; it never failed to confuse me how someone with the mental capacity of a six-year old could go from coloring in a coloring book to modifying a complex engine in less than fifteen minutes.

Sly was the brave one. He was standing beside me, telling me of past heists and occasionally rubbing my back after I managed to throw up something I didn't remember eating. He'd definitely tease me more about being sick later, but he was being a perfect gentleman at the moment.

Frankly, I was a little suspicious.

If I didn't need him to distract me so badly, I think I'd have killed him.

"Alright," Bentley said finally, "Our next target is Jean Bison. This is an interesting one, guys."

"What's so special about this guy, Bentley?" Sly asked, "He's just another Klaww Gang member, isn't he?"

"Not at all, Sly. Jean Bison is from the 1850's."

"Please tell me that it's not another evil killer robot." I called, not moving.

"He was a prospector, working to tame the 'Wild North'. Through a demolitions accident on a mountain, he was buried alive in an avalanche. The quick freeze kept him alive and he thawed out a couple of years ago." There was the sound of quickly typing keys. "He uses the Klaww Gang's spice shipments to bankroll his current logging business."

"Bentley, you said he was from the 1850's?" Sly spoke up again, "What's a low-tech guy like that doing with robot parts?"

"I don't wanna know…" I muttered.

"Well, it can't be anything good, I'll tell you that." Bentley answered, "But he walked away with the Clockwerk Stomach and both Lungs. Not to mention the Clockwerk Talons."

"_Four_ Clockwerk Parts? How'd he manage that?"

"I don't know, but we're going to find out."

* * *

><p>The trip took a week. I lost five pounds during that week because I simply refused to eat. I drank a lot, but eating was completely out of the question when I'd practically cuffed myself to the railing of the boat.<p>

Canada was cold. Not like, 'wow hey look my breath', but more like, 'wow hey look are my toes supposed to be that color?'

Upon docking the boat, I collapsed into a nearby snowdrift, blessing the unmoving, solid land, and Bentley and Murray headed in to town for supplies. Sly hung around and got to talking to some of the local fishermen. By the time the others returned, Sly had made quite a few buddies and we were treated to a dinner made of fresh caught fish. This is worth noting, because that was the best meal I'd ever had, and I hated seafood, feline genes aside. It may have had something to do with the fact that I hadn't eaten in a week…

We bought Dramamine (glorious, glorious drugs) and took the boat to Jean Bison's logging camp, making a Safehouse out of an abandoned fishing hut that was built on stilts over the ocean.

Sly was ecstatic to have a chance to stretch his muscles after being cooped up in a boat for a week, as were Bentley and Murray. I was sprawled on the wooden floor, reveling in the stillness.

"I'm never getting on a boat again… I'm never getting on a boat again…"

"I've got a lead on the Clockwerk Parts." Bentley said, hunched over the one laptop he'd actually unpacked. "Head through town and out into the wilderness."

"Will do." Sly headed for the door.

"You're not going to take a jacket or anything?" I asked, propping myself up on my elbows.

"Nah, it'll make too much noise."

"Okay," I flopped back down, "But I'm not treating you for frostbite when you get back."

He smirked, "Wouldn't dream of it."

* * *

><p>After Sly got back from stealing some secret blueprints, it was time for another slideshow.<p>

"Thanks to Sly's efforts, we now know the location of three of the local Clockwerk parts- two Lungs and the Stomach-"

"Eww! Why does a robot need a stomach?"

"-Jean Bison has grafted each piece to the engines inside one of his Iron Horse trains. This improvement allows the trains to run all night and all day-"

"How?"

"-Sly, if you would?"

"No problem, Bentley."

"Hey, what are you- Don't you dare! I'll bite you! I swear, I'll-"

"We won't have the luxury of sneaking in while they're stopped. While they're in motion, the only way in is through a hatch on the caboose roof, which, unfortunately, has been locked down. These need to go! First collect the spice gas from the balloons above town, then land on the cabooses to blow off the locks. Once the way is clear, I'll suit up and jump into Iron Horse number one. With any luck, we'll have the first Clockwerk Lung in a few hours-"

"OW!"

* * *

><p>"Bentley, I'm booooorrrred…"<p>

"Go play your DS."

"Murray broke it."

"Go build a better mousetrap."

"You've already patented one, haven't you?"

"Patent pending."

"Mhmmm…"

"…"

"…"

"Well, I was going to make Murray do the shopping, but since you're obviously in need of something to do-"

"GIMME MONEY!"

Bentley sighed as he handed me a small bag of coins. "Why do we even put up with you?"

I grinned at him, "Because I'm cute."

* * *

><p>"Well," I said to myself, thunking my head against the back of the cage, "This could have gone better."<p>

Seriously, how did Carmelita even get to Canada? She had no funds, no Interpol influence… she was really determined, I guess. Only explanation I could think of, at any rate.

"Hey, Kaia, you okay in there?" Oh, she was back.

I got to my feet, "I'm fine, little cold, but I'll live." I was actually pretty snug in the white hoodie Ritsuka had lent me, though given its size I had a sneaking suspicion it actually used to belong to Ahanu.

"Sorry about the cage," She really did look apologetic, "But I can't have you warning the Cooper gang."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." The second she'd run in to me she'd asked me where I could find the gang. Knowing that they were really the only ones who could take on the Klaww Gang, as they weren't limited by law, I refused to tell her. Then she muttered something about Stockholm Syndrome and locked me in the cage.

Seriously, when would everyone just let that go?

"Just sit tight for now, I'll be back as soon as I find the others."

I gave a slight wave as she disappeared and was about to settle back in when a flash of blue caught my attention.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

I sighed, resting my elbows on one of the bars on the door, "So, what are the odds of me getting out of here with no teasing?"

"Slim to none." Sly said, coming up to me, "So, how's it feel to be a criminal?"

"A bit like elementary school, but with jail time instead of detention."

He chuckled, then noticed now tightly I was shoving my hands into my pockets, "Don't worry; I'll have you out in no time."

I snorted, "Yeah, not that simple. The door's triple padlocked and Carmelita's got all the keys." I indicated the three sturdy locks in front of me.

"Your lack of faith wounds me, Jinx. It wounds me to my core."

"You should do some ab workouts, then. Tighten that up." I poked his stomach through the bars.

"Oh, that hurts. Maybe I should just leave you there."

I rolled my eyes, "I'm sure. When you get a key, make sure to run like the dickens, Carmelita's a lot more observant than your average guard and she's got a shock pistol."

"Leave her to me." Sly said with a creepy sideways grin.

I felt suddenly bad for Carmelita.

* * *

><p>I leapt to my feet again as Sly approached the barred door, "Hey, you finally made it! … What are you doing?"<p>

He twirled three keys around his finger, but made no move to unlock the door.

"Sly! As soon as Carmelita realizes that those keys are missing, she'll come running! What are you waiting for?"

"Why did she lock you up?"

I blinked at him, then shook my head, sure I'd hear wrong. "Is this the time to be asking that?"

"Yes. You've done nothing wrong and she likes you. Why'd she lock you up?"

I ground my teeth, "She put me in here when I refused to tell her where the Safehouse was. She was worried I'd warn you guys that she was about."

And then he was right there, inches from my face, "Are you still claiming not to have Stockholm Syndrome, Kaia?" His voice was serious. The answer meant something to him.

I pressed myself against the cold metal at the back of the cell, but it still wasn't far enough away, "Wha- I- Of course I don't have it…" I averted my gaze, though I wasn't sure why. "You guys are the only ones who can really go toe to toe with the Klaww Gang, is all."

"Mhmm." I wasn't sure if that was an affirmative or a 'yeah, right' sort of hum, but he unlocked the door and let me out. "I'll see you back at the Safehouse."

I pulled my hood up, to hide my dark hair against the snowy landscape… and to avoid having to look at him, "Yeah, see you there."

* * *

><p>"Kaia… Earth to Kaia!"<p>

"Hmm?" I blinked and moved my stare from the ceiling, to see an agitated Bentley in front of me, tapping his foot and staring me down from beside the projector, "Err… yes?"

He sighed, "Honestly, an hour ago we couldn't get you to shut up. Now you're not even paying attention when it concerns you."

"Huh? I get to be a part of the next round of jobs?"

"Sort of." He pulled up a picture of one of the Iron Horse trains, "You'll be accompanying me as I board Iron Horse number two and do some pre-emptive RC bombing to get some of the defenses out of the way. I need someone to watch my back as I concentrate on the RC chopper and Sly and Murray are both going to be busy here."

"Awesome!" I said, leaping to my feet. "Let's do it."

* * *

><p>"Yeah… let's just jump on a moving train…" I muttered, shivering on the back deck of the caboose as Bentley bombed the hell out of the cars in front of us, "Train moving forty miles per hour… in Canada…"<p>

"So," Bentley ignored my grumbling, "What happened between you and Sly?"

I nearly fell off the caboose, "Turtle say what?"

"Come on, Kaia, I'm not stupid. You were normal when you left to get food, if a bit more insufferable than usual. When Sly set you free and you came back you just sat there thinking. You had to have been thinking about _something_."

"Whatever happened to concentrating on the RC chopper?" I averted my gaze to the white landscape around us.

"I can bomb a train and listen to my friends' problems at the same time."

Friends.

I plopped down on the cold metal. "I'm actually not sure what happened." I told him the whole thing, "I'm just not sure what he was on about. He was acting like it was a big deal, but up until now, it's just been a joke."

Bentley sighed, not looking up from his remote control, "Kaia, do you know how old Sly is?"

"… Twenty-four?"

"Sly's barely twenty, Kaia. He's only a couple of years older than you and up until now he, Murray, and I could only ever rely on each other and sometimes Carmelita. He's trying really hard to figure out how much he can trust you, especially after what happened with Neyla." He looked me in the eye then, "You're kind of the ultimate wildcard and he's having issues trying to figure out what's going on in your head."

"_I _don't even know what's going on in my head!" I exclaimed, burying my hands in my hair, "This is all so weird."

"Well then, let me ask you this." Bentley's chopper landed in his outstretched hands, "How far can we trust you?"

That was a good question. It took me a few minutes to answer. "I'd never do anything to hurt you guys. Or take away your freedom."

Bentley just smiled as we leapt from the train. "That's good to know. You just have to wait for Sly to either ask or realize it on his own."

"Yeah… Hey, wait, Bentley. How old are you?"

He smirked, "I'll be twenty-three in a few weeks."

I gaped. "You're five years older than me?"

"Murray's even older than I am."

I think my brain broke a little.

* * *

><p>"You guys are going to give me grey hairs."<p>

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Sly smirked, somehow managing to flick my nose with his tail. I sneezed and glared at him. Seriously, how did he do that? My tail was prehensile too, but he had _way_ more control than I did.

"It's an expression. Seriously!" I pointed at the picture being projected, "You're going to use an old handcar- that hasn't been used since before steam engines, mind you, and is kept around only as an _antique_- to catch up to a spice train going upwards of sixty miles per hour? That thing's gonna fall apart under you!"

"Well, if I did my math right- and I always do my math right," Bentley said, looking over a page of figures that made my head hurt, "The handcar should hold together for approximately twenty-seven minutes. That's just long enough to catch up to the train and for Murray to slow down to a safe speed to jump off."

I felt my eye twitch slightly, "That's cutting it a little close, don't you think?"

"Don't worry so much." I hadn't seen Sly come up behind me, so I jumped and squeaked when he tousled my hair, "Bentley did the math, it's all good."

"Yeah, if we all play our parts, what could possibly go wrong? …Don't answer that." Bentley cut me off when I opened my mouth.

* * *

><p>In an effort to put less strain on the handcar, I was left behind at the Safehouse. Not that I was complaining, it was cold outside.<p>

Attempting to relieve boredom, I'd dug through my backpack, which I hadn't touched, except to get clothes out, in quite a while. Finding a half-full bottle of blue polish, I kicked my feet up on the table and started painting my nails.

I'd painted both hands and started on my toes when Bentley's computer suddenly started beeping loudly. I jumped in surprise and looked over at it. Seeing that a binocucom frequency was trying to connect, I reached over and answered.

"Uh, hello?"

Bentley's face appeared on the screen, "Kaia, we need your help!"

"… that's a sentence I never thought I'd hear."

"You have your license, right?"

"… yes…"

There was a muffled argument on the other side of the connection that ended with Bentley coming back into the frame. "We have to crack the engine block to get the Clockwerk stomach free, but Neyla just destroyed my RC chopper."

"She's here? I'm really starting to detest her."

"Indeed. I have a spare chopper in the van, but no way to access it from here. I need you to drive the van over to that small mountain a few miles away, remember we saw it coming up here? Iron Horse number three is going to pass it in fifteen minutes."

"Okay, let me get this straight, you want me, who's never driven stick before, to drive the van several miles away from the Safehouse to help you finish off a heist?"

"That's correct. You watched me figure it out, I'm sure you can do the same. And you know everything but that laptop is already packed up in the van. Take the laptop with you and I'll give you further instructions once you get to the mountain."

"… If you say so, Bentley."

I threw my backpack up on one shoulder and snapped the laptop closed, tucking it under my arm. I sprinted the short distance outside to the van, managing to completely avoid the guards. It was kind of nerve wracking to drive the van on a wooden bridge suspended over a slow, icy-death, especially with trying to remember how to work the clutch and the gears, but I managed to do it without dying which, I felt, was an achievement.

I'd missed driving. I didn't realize how much I'd missed it until the trees were blurring by and I didn't have time to enjoy it because I had to beat Iron Horse three to the mountain.

I got there in a few minutes and parked the van, finding the RC chopper and taking it, the controller, and the prototype binocucom I occasionally used to position myself on an overhang above the only visible train tracks.

The binocucoms were usually handheld, but the reason this was a prototype was because Bentley had been trying to get it to function in a smaller case and to accommodate a strap so it could be worn like a pair of goggles in a pinch. So far it was working, but the battery life was really short.

I turned it on and tuned into Bentley's frequency. "Okay… what am I supposed to do?"

"Alright," I have no idea what Bentley was doing on the other end or how he was doing it without a laptop, but the screen in front of my eyes abruptly went green. I very carefully sat down in the snow, hearing the RC chopper turn on and rise into the air by itself. In the distance, I also heard the unmistakable sound of a train engine. "I can get the RC chopper to a stable altitude, but I can't work the steering or firing controls from here. You'll have to do that."

"Okay, but, um, Bentley? Why is everything green?"

"That's the RC chopper's radar. You won't be able to get a visual, so you'll have to use that to guide you. I'm having the chopper hover fifteen feet above the train and marking the smoke stack for the engine with a waypoint. You need to drop a bomb down the smokestack to free the Clockwerk Stomach from the bolts holding it to the engine."

"Won't that crash the train?"

"Not fast enough that we won't be able to get off."

"Okay…" I said to myself when a soft yellow market appeared in the sea of emerald, "I got this."

"Kaia, be careful!" A large red mark appeared before my eyes, "Neyla's back! I thought I shot out her guidance system… Use the right trigger to fire forwards and the left trigger to drop bombs!"

I paled as the large red mark started shooting smaller ones toward the blinking black light that was the RC chopper.

* * *

><p>"HA!" I yelled, as the red mark careened away from the train, "I am the champion!"<p>

"Alright, Champ. Mind dropping a bomb so we can get out of here? Before the chopper is out of your controller's range?"

"Buzzkill," I muttered to Bentley, dropping a bomb directly atop the yellow mark. The green turned orange for a split second, then I heard Bentley ask Sly if he was alright.

_"I've got an upset stomach on my hands, but other than that, I feel great!"_

"Oh, haha, Sly, you're so punny." Wait… what was that noise? It wasn't coming from the binocucom…

I pulled the goggles away from my eyes and, squinting against the sudden natural light, made out a stream of black smoke against the pale blue sky… heading right for me.

"Guys…"

Neyla's plane kept getting closer. It was unmistakably heading for me.

"Neyla's coming this way… she sees me…"

There was a beat of silence.

_"Kaia."_

That was Sly again.

Neyla was close enough for me to make out her bright fuchsia fur and her thunderous expression. "YOU MEDDLING _BRAT!_"

"_Run_."

She fired a missile.

I dove to the side, but she wasn't aiming for me. The missile hit directly beneath a large bank of snow higher on the mountain. There was an explosion, a loud 'Crack!', and silence… then the snow shifted.

I scrambled to my feet as the snow kept falling, gaining more and more momentum and becoming an avalanche

You know when you're watching a television program or movie and the main character is trying to outrun a train or giant stone boulder or something and you're screaming, "Just run to the SIDE, you IDIOT!"?

I'm proud to say I actually remembered that when Neyla's missile hit the peak of the mountain and the snow started to fall.

Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot of 'side' on a conical mountain, so my first plan was a bust.

Then I saw the protruding rock outcropping.

It was several yards higher up, but it was also my best bet for safety in the avalanche. I sprinted for it, miraculously not slipping in the snow. I reached it just in time and pressed myself as far underneath it as I could, covering my head with my arms.

The tidal wave of snow roared in my ears as it exploded around the rocks above me and everything went black.

* * *

><p>Sly was running back for the handcar even before he heard the explosion and Kaia's binocucom cut into static. Once he got there, it took them twenty minutes to reach the place where she had been sitting. That was plenty long enough for the avalanche to settle.<p>

"I'll try to get a lock on her binocucom's signal," Bentley wheezed. If he didn't use his inhaler soon he was probably going to have an attack, but he sat down and started typing furiously anyway. It took less than a minute for him to find the signal, but that felt far too long to Sly and Murray.

The signal was only a couple of yards away from where they were standing. Sly reached it first and started digging furiously. He unearthed the binocucom soon enough.

But it lay in the snow alone.

* * *

><p>What is this? A cliffhanger? Bwaha!<p>

Okay, yeah, it's kind of a cheap cliffhanger, but still. Oh, I am considering updating on Christmas if I get enough reviews telling me to do so. Yes, I'm just trying to find out who actually reads my notes by bribing you guys, lol.

I hope you enjoyed, though! Tell me what you think, have a very merry Christmas and God Bless!


	12. Rainbows and Batteries

Wow, guys. I seriously don't know what to say. I guess I should leave you on cliffhangers more often, I've gotten more reviews for my last update in seven days than I have for any of my other chapters that were up twice as long. And all of you were so nice about it! I thought that was a cheap excuse for a cliffhanger, I'm just glad so many of you liked it!

And I got several requests for this so, as promised, here is your Christmas update!

On with the chapter!

* * *

><p>Sly felt a brief instant of overwhelming, crushing panic; a terribly familiar feeling he remembered from twelve years ago, when his father had thrown him in the closet and seconds later been cut down by Clockwerk.<p>

Bentley was saying something, but the raccoon couldn't hear him. He was numb. He couldn't feel anything- arms, legs, anything.

He waited patiently. He knew what came next.

There it was.

A cold, almost physical presence in his gut. He remembered this too.

Despair.

His head snapped up from where it had been staring blankly at the binocucom half-buried in snow when he heard… something.

He wasn't sure what it was, voice, natural sound, animal… but it sounded familiar to him.

"Do you guys hear something?" he asked, shattering an nearly tangible air of apprehension between himself and his two friends.

They waited in silence for a moment.

"I don't hear anything," Bentley said tentatively, looking at his friend as though he wasn't sure whether or not he was all there.

But Sly had been sure- "There it is again!" He took off up the slope, stumbling several times in the still-powdery snow but not slowing down.

It sounded like…

He stopped at a large rock, buried in the snow. He flattened, pressing his ear to it.

It was her voice! He couldn't make out the exact words, but it was definitely her and it was a safe bet she was calling for help.

"Murray!" He stood, calling the hippo that was lumbering with difficulty up the mountain after him. "She's under here!"

For about twenty seconds, Murray was a star athlete. He reached Sly and plunged his fists into the snow, gripping the rock and heaving.

Sly could practically hear his friend's already-strained muscles tearing, "You got this buddy," he encouraged, wound tight with apprehension.

Bentley had to duck when the large slab of stone finally popped free of the frozen earth and flew from Murray's grip.

Curled in the space between where the rock had been buried in the soil and the wall of snow formed by the avalanche, Kaia's teeth chattered audibly.

"Ok-kay… It's-s of-fficial. I h-hate N-N-Neyla."

* * *

><p>"Ok-k ay, Sly, seriously. You can put me d-down. My legs aren't injured. I can walk-k."<p>

Usually, any practice that can contribute to my laziness is wholly acceptable and encouraged, but Sly hadn't put me down since they found me half an hour ago. Initially I wasn't complaining, cause he was nice and warm and stuff, but it was just getting awkward now.

He looked down at me, eyebrow raised, a smirk hovering about his lips, "You wanna stand knee-deep in the snow while Murray digs out the van?"

I looked down to see that the snow was, indeed, up to about the middle of Sly's calves, which meant it would be knee-deep to me. Sly was a tall bugger when he wasn't slinking around in the shadows. "Admittedly n-no, but my feet are falling asleep and your arms have g-got to be getting tired."

His eyebrow went higher up, "Do you have any idea how light you are? Especially after that stint on the ocean."

I sighed and stole his hat, tugging it down over my face and crossing my arms, "You're ridiculous."

"And you're portable."

"_Bentley's_ p-portable."

"Hey, I heard that!"

I peeked under the brim of Sly's hat and saw Bentley, sitting on the hood of the van, glaring at us over the lid of his laptop, slightly darker than normal. The van hadn't actually been buried by the avalanche, but it had gotten a snowdrift several feet high as a result, which Murray was currently shoveling away.

"Any news, Bentley?"

"The police are closing in on this location. We need to move out."

"Done." Murray huffed, clearing away the last bit of snow from the van's undercarriage. "Let's go."

I was more than happy to leap out of Sly's arms and hop into the back of the van, "You guys need to get some seats back here, seriously." I said, climbing over the many and varied Clockwerk parts. "I'm gonna s-stab myself on something someday."

"Well, you might get your chance here in a bit." Bentley was already in the passenger's seat, typing away, "My data says that Jean Bison is still in possession of the Clockwerk Talons."

"Seriously?" I hit my head on the top of the van and grimaced, "Can't we go to Texas or something? It's w-warm there! Hey- where'd Sly go?"

"He went to go see if Inspector Fox needed help escaping again. She doesn't have the resources we do and the arrival of the authorities is probably going to take her by surprise."

"Oh yeah… poor Carmelita." Geez… she was probably having some serious issues with this whole fugitive thing.

"As soon as he gets back, we need to take off. The irregularity of the Northern Lights has had some serious effects on the temperaments of lots of people and animals." Apparently, the Northern Lights had been off lately. I hadn't borne witness to this as I was never able to stay up late enough to see them, to my great chagrin. "Jean Bison and Arpeggio are probably behind it somehow with that 'Northern Light Battery' they were talking about." Bentley continued as Murray warmed up the engine.

"So? What are we g-going to do?"

"We're going to follow the lights."

* * *

><p>Sleeping in the back of the Cooper van is actually surprisingly easy once you manage to sandwich yourself and a sleeping bag between two Clockwerk Tailfeathers and a Clockwerk Wing.<p>

Well, it is until Sly wakes you up at one in the morning, at least.

"Jinx. Wake up."

I grumbled and swatted at his hand, but he kept shaking me until I opened one eye and glared blearily at him, "_What?_"

"Come on, you _have_ to see this."

I grumbled at him a lot, but he wouldn't let up, so, with his help, I draped myself over the back of the passenger's seat to look out the window and see what he was on about.

And boy am I glad I did.

With the back of the seat digging into my stomach and my elbow propped on Sly's shoulder so I could see out his window, I looked outside and gaped.

"Can we roll down the window?" I asked after a moment.

Sly obliged and I reached over, gripping the door and pulling so I could put my head out the window and look up at the sky.

Beams of multicolored light lit up the black-blue sky, making the multitude of stars look inconsequential. It was mostly greens and some pinks, but I saw a couple of bands of gold, red, and violet. It looked too beautiful. The lights writhed and moved like a living thing, casting colored hues on the landscape around us. The snow reflected and magnified the illumination, sending it back to the sky, making the whole world light up in rainbows.

"Is this real?" I half expected Sly to tell me that I was dreaming.

"Yeah. Yeah it is."

"Wow," I breathed, feeling tears prick at my eyes because I refused to close them against the slipstream caused by the van.

I snapped out of my reverie when I heard a 'click'.

I turned and gaped at Sly when I caught him hastily trying to shove his binocucom away, "Did you just take a picture of me?"

He grinned, I would have called it sheepish but there was also a smugness about it, "A picture's worth a thousand words?"

* * *

><p>After a long night of lights-watching and trying to strangle snarky raccoons, we arrived at a logging camp in Northern Canada, the sheer number of fallen trees advertising Jean Bison's presence.<p>

Knowing that Arpeggio was coming to pick up a 'Northern Light Battery' in a blimp ("What is it with this gang and blimps?") in a couple of days and that sneaking aboard would be the only way we'd get a crack at his Clockwerk Brain ("EWEWEW!", "And she's back to being loud.") _and_ that in that time we had to snag the Clockwerk Talons, tensions in the Safehouse were running high, especially when Sly came back from running recon with an announcement.

"The only way to get the Clockwerk Talons in time is to win them from Jean Bison in the lumberjack games he's hosting."

"Anyone else get the feeling that this guy might be a bit too proud of being a lumberjack?"

I was ignored.

"Fortunately," Bentley took over with his slide projector, "Due to frequent avalanches, a log chopping guide has surfaced not too far from our camp."

I squinted at the picture of the glacier, "Is that a mammoth in there with it! Why didn't you mention the mammoth?"

Bentley blushed, "I was hoping to study it someday when we aren't on a timetable. Anyway," He cleared his throat, "Sly, you're in charge of acquiring the book. I'm sure it'll prove invaluable. Now, we're all aware that Arpeggio's blimp is coming to pick up the Northern Light Battery. In order to sneak aboard, I recommend we pull a Trojan Horse and stow away inside the battery."

I opened my mouth to ask how that was possible, but Bentley and Sly exchanged looks and I decided it was in my best interest to stay silent.

Well, silent until they mentioned that they were going to be stealing radio tags from local bears. Radio tags located in the fillings in their teeth.

"What?" I gaped at Bentley, "You're gonna go pry out bear teeth?"

"No, Sly's going to go pry out bear teeth. Weren't you paying attention?"

"Wouldn't it be safer to jerry-rig a listening device? Why do you always gotta steal a device or use an actual bug?"

Bentley seemed a little insulted, "In Paris I forged a painting from Dimitri's office and installed a listening device in the frame."

I hurriedly backtracked, "Okay, I get it, but why are we sending Sly after hungry bears?"

"Worried, Jinx?"

I jumped and whipped around, hitting Sly in the chest on reflex. He'd somehow managed to sneak across the room completely silently and come up behind me. He coughed and wheezed, caught off guard by my hit and holding on the back of my chair to support himself, "_Ow._"

Bentley cracked up in the background while I was torn between being worried that I'd actually hurt Sly and still being mad that he'd scared me. I settled for throwing my hands up in the air, "Fine! Go play bear-dentist, see if I care!"

The turtle genius wiped away tears of mirth, "It's because the bear tags are already hooked into Bison's network. Despite his antique mind, he's no fool. He's had a state-of the art firewall installed into his system. I could crack it, but it would take more time than we have to spare."

"Oh… okay."

"Seriously, Jinx, who taught you how to hit?" Sly wheezed, slipping back into his own chair, rubbing the point of impact.

I gave him an evil grin, "Never sneak up on a girl raised by the FBI."

* * *

><p>After Sly grabbed the bear tags, Murray ran off to do some undercover work and the raccoon headed back out to defrost the log-chopping guide. Meanwhile, Bentley showed me how to modify the bear tags to relay information to his laptop.<p>

After I got over the fact that I was handling bloody bear teeth, it wasn't actually that hard. Besides, I got to eavesdrop on the binocucom conversations Bentley was having with the guys.

"You'll need a disguise. That old moose head should do the trick."

"Don't you find it weird that you're advising Murray to stick his head into another creature's skull?"

"_I'm always up for bugging someone's home_."

"Bentley, where can I buy a bug sweeper?"

"It's useless, Kaia. The current most advanced sweeper is one I patented and know how to circumvent."

"Bentley, please never let Sly bug my house."

"No promises."

"_Heheheh…_"

"I've never seen a creature so full of life, so ready to live-" _SPLOOSH_! "-So much for that, he's back in the deep freeze."

"Poor mammoth."

* * *

><p>"After reading the log chopping guide it has become painfully clear," Bentley said at the next slideshow, "That we'll have to cheat."<p>

"Why would we do anything different?" Sly asked, sitting backwards on a chair with his often-present smirk.

"Ever heard the phrase, 'Honor amongst thieves', Sly?"

He reached over without looking to pat me on the head, "You adorable naïve thing, you. OW!"

"If you don't want me to bite you, stop patting my head!"

"Ahem, can we do the briefing now, if you two are quite done?"

"Hugs and kisses, Bentley."

"I'll take that as a 'yes'. Now, I've constructed a plan, which hinges around us acquiring an eagle's egg, which is more difficult than you think."

"Tell me we're not going to kill a yet-to-be-born chick."

"No, Kaia. If all goes well the egg will be returned to its nest unharmed."

"Yay!"

"Now be quiet."

"Aw…"

"First, Murray needs to lure a bear into taking out the local oil mains…

* * *

><p>"Ummm…" I wasn't sure quite what to do when Sly handed me a white speckled eagle egg the size of my hand, "Thanks? What do I do with it?"<p>

If possible, Sly's smirk got even creepier than usual, "Ask Bentley."

"Bentley? Why does Sly look like a predator?"

"HEY!"

Bentley bore my question with the kind of calm that is envied by saints. "Due to your hybridization, your average body temperature, according to your medical records, is perfect for keeping the egg at an ideal temperature."

"… I've never been more creeped out than I am at this moment." I muttered, tucking the egg into the crook of my arm. "Bentley, you could build an incubator out of an old battery and a barrel. This is just a ploy to keep me busy while you guys go do fun stuff isn't it?"

"How about we tell you when we get back from breaking into that old lighthouse?"

"I hope you get electrocuted."

* * *

><p>The next day was the lumber jack games. My job was to sneak the egg out to Bentley during Bison's turn at the log-chopping event.<p>

After that I was sent back to the Safehouse to 'keep an eye on the Clockwerk parts', which had been transferred there because we'd had to park the van on some ice in order to keep it out of sight. While the ice was strong enough to hold the van, it wasn't strong enough to hold the van _and_ half a ton of Clockwerk parts.

And by 'keep an eye on the Clockwerk parts', they meant 'get out of the way so we don't have to worry about you slipping on the ice and falling into the ocean'.

Which was clearly an overreaction.

… It only happened _once_.

Anyways, after getting back and changing into the jeans and T-shirt I'd been wearing when this whole crazy thing started, which were the only still-clean clothes in my backpack, I amused myself by building a card house out of Sly's calling cards, which was really a lot harder than you'd think.

The card house collapsed immediately when Jean Bison broke the door down, though.

I had about a half a second to react. Fortunately, in that half a second my brain kicked into high gear.

Jean Bison was here, so that meant the guys' cover had been blown. If I was lucky, they were still alive. Bison was here because he'd probably figured the rest of the Clockwerk parts would be here, which, given the fact that I was sitting on the Tailfeathers, was a fair deduction. That meant I couldn't count on the guys to come help me out, so I'd have to get out of this on my own.

No way could I take any of the guards, let alone Bison himself, in a fight. That meant I'd have to take page out of Bentley's book and use my brain. I barely had any information… but all I needed to know was that Jean Bison was a working-class man from the 1850's.

Time started up again and as my card house hit the wooden floor of the Safehouse, I gave a yelp and leapt back, making my eyes wide and scared as I stared up at the brick-red bison filling the doorway.

"W-who are you?" I didn't like playing damsel in distress, but hey, if it got me out of this…

Bison looked just as surprised as me. "Oh, um, I'm sorry for startling you, miss." He rumbled, then recognition dawned on his face, "Say, you're that gal that that varmint raccoon and his gang snatched back in Cairo, aren't ya?"

I grimaced, "'Varmint' is right." I had to play my cards very, _very_ carefully here. It had been two months since I'd joined up with the Cooper gang so it would be a bit of a stretch to convince anyone that I completed hated them after so long, "Being a captive is not how I planned to start my final year of school. That turtle is far too crafty to let me escape either. Apparently every good thief gang needs a pet hostage to keep the police from taking aggressive action."

"Er…" he looked confused, but seemed to get that I was not a happy camper with my current situation. "Well, why don't you come with me, ma'am, and I'll help you get to the nearest town while my men take care of these here Clockwerk parts?"

Well… that was easier than I thought it'd be. Either I was really good at playing damsel in distress or Jean Bison was just really gullible. I was going to vote for the latter for the sake of my pride.

* * *

><p>It was half an hour before I was able to slip out of sight of both Bison and his guards. It was kind of amusing how easy it was to fool them. Jean Bison had 'assured' me that the Cooper gang was being kept in the most secure room of his logging facility, the master control room.<p>

Apparently it didn't occur to him that putting them in the master control room… gave them control of all the logging equipment.

And by 'them' I mean 'Bentley'.

The poor sap.

Still, it wouldn't matter how many saws they had control of if they couldn't get the door open.

It didn't take long to find the master control room… especially after I stopped and asked for directions from a very nice Canadian moose.

What _did_ slow me down was the six digit coded keypad on the solid steel door.

I realized what Bison meant by 'secure' then. I could hear Murray struggling to open it on the other side, probably to keep himself busy, but no way was he getting that thing open, he'd just tire himself out and he'd need his strength. We all would, to reach the Northern Light Battery; Arpeggio's ETA was only minutes away.

After beating my head against a nearby wall for a few minutes, trying to figure out I was going to get the stupid thing open, I started thinking away from how to trick the guards into opening it for me and to trying to figure out what the code was originally.

Bison was not good with the technology, it just wasn't his century. He'd have to pick a relatively simple code that he'd be able to remember. Okay, what was the most important thing to Bison?

Well that was easy, being a lumberjack.

Lumberjack… the lumberjack games… were there any numbers associated with that?

The answer slipped into place with a nearly-audible _'Click!'_ in my mind.

I punched in: 101010

The light above the pad shone green and gave a short series of beeps and the door slid upwards to reveal a panting Murray and a startled Sly.

"Kaia?"

"Where's Bentley, guys?" I asked, throwing my glance around the room and praying that the turtle's absence didn't mean something terrible.

"Here."

I jumped and actually screamed when I heard the voice behind me. Bentley was standing there, wheezing and dripping sweat. I clutched my heart and leaned against the doorframe, "Don't scare me like that!"

Sly strode over and took my arm, "How did you escape Bison?" He looked torn between being relieved or suspicious.

"He's a guy from the 1850's, Sly. Chivalry was still around then. I played damsel in distress. Now come on, we _have_ to go!"

"Kaia's right." Bentley said, wiping sweat from his brow, "We have approximately one minute before Arpeggio's blimp arrives."

"What?" I gaped. I thought we had longer than that! "What about the other Clockwerk parts? And the Talons, we can't leave them!"

"Bison sold them to Arpeggio," Murray said as we sprinted out the side door.

I stumbled in the snow, losing a shoe but unable to slow down to pick it up again, especially when Sly grabbed my hand, "What- all of them?"

"Yup."

"Oh hell."

The short spring to the Northern Light Battery seemed much longer than it should have. Sly did not let go of me the entire time which made me run a lot faster than I thought I was capable of simply in order to not slow him down.

We managed to avoid all the guards, by some miracle. Sly and I scaled a small tree beside the battery, Murray tossed Bentley up to the hatch on the top and followed quickly.

In moments, we were sitting in the complete blackness of the empty battery. Hardly moving, hardly breathing, waiting to see if, somehow, Arpeggio could tell from his blimp that something was up.

Then there was a clang, a shudder, and a jolt. My stomach plummeted and we were airborne.

* * *

><p>They had been in the air for five minutes and Sly already wanted to start breaking things.<p>

No one was talking. If they felt anything like he did, they were pondering the sudden sense of loss they were faced with. Their purpose had been stolen from them, just like that.

Bentley was drawing up meaningless plans, trying to make sense of it all. Murray was just staring out the window, big, fat, crocodile tears running down his cheeks as the team van floated out of sight on an ice floe. Sly himself was twitchy, ready for action, battle, anything to take his mind off the feeling of failure.

And Kaia…

He looked over at her. She was curled into a ball, shivering, her tail resting on the top of her shoe and curving around the foot that had lost its, the soaking wet sock creating a small puddle on the floor of the battery, her arms wrapped tightly around her knees.

No, she wasn't shivering… she was trembling. Her bottom lip was pinched between her teeth, her eyes squeezed so tightly shut that he caught himself wondering if that didn't hurt.

For a split second his mind went completely blank.

Sly carefully made his way over to her, aware that shifting too quickly could pitch the battery in any direction. He placed a hand on the hybrid's arm, but she made no move to acknowledge him. "Jinx?" One of her ears twitched, but that was the most reaction he got. "Kaia? …Are you afraid?"

Her slight 'no' was almost inaudible.

Faced with another situation where he had no idea what action to take, Sly cast his gaze around, but Bentley was in no position to help him and Murray was still sobbing over the speck of blue in the distance.

Slowly, more unsure than he'd ever been in his life, he eased into a sitting position beside the teenager, gently sliding an arm around her hunched shoulders. From this angle, he could make out the faded spots on her shoulders and neck, undoubtedly from the leopard genes buried in her DNA.

After a moment, her shaking lessened, but she was still stiff as a stone. He sighed, leaning his head back against the cold, metal interior of the battery.

What were they going to do?

* * *

><p>Well, that's... a cheery, Christmas-y note to leave y'all on. Just one chapter and an epilogue to go! Utter insanity, how close this is to being over.<p>

Have a very merry Christmas everyone! If you could take some time to review, I'd really appreciate it. Be safe in your travels and God Bless!


	13. Admittance and Endings

Okay, guys. This is it. This is the last chapter. I'm going to ask everyone to take a few deep, calming breaths as I run screaming through the streets of my neighborhood.

...

Okay, back.

Hooooooo... Okay, okay, I'm good, I'm fine, I'm cool...

Okay, there's not much more to say, I guess, except:

On with the chapter!

* * *

><p>Being afraid of heights was not the best thing when flying hundreds of feet over the Atlantic Ocean in a battery not designed to contain passengers.<p>

As such, it was half an hour before I remembered.

"Bentley," I croaked out, my tongue sticking to the top of my dry mouth. I cleared my throat and raised my head. Sly's arm fell away as I pulled off my backpack, opening a nearly invisible pocket just behind the straps and pulling out a small laptop. "I managed to grab this before Bison's guys ransacked the place."

I'd never seen Bentley move so fast. "Kaia, you're an angel." He said, grinning widely as he took the laptop, opening it and gently dusting off the screen.

"You have intel in that thing, Bentley?" Sly asked, nudging his friend with a foot.

"Yes, I was actually researching Arpeggio before our last heist." Bentley said, pulling up a picture and showing it to us, "He attended a prestigious boarding school and excelled in all subjects, but was never as physically built as his classmates. He has a pituitary disorder that prevents him from growing. He threw his mind into finding a cure and it wasn't long before the Klaww gang took note of his intellect and brought him aboard as chief inventor."

"And this is the guy who has _all_ the Clockwerk Parts?" The battery pitched and I tensed, grabbing Sly's arm and immediately regretting it.

He said absolutely nothing. He just twisted his arm so he could rest his hand on mine, "Any idea what he's planning, Bentley?"

"Well, given that Clockwerk is more or less the epitome of avian physical perfection, I would assume Arpeggio would be trying to glean some sort of information from the parts. Best case scenario, he just wants to study them. Worst case scenario, he wants to use them to craft his own mechanical skeleton or even worse, reactivate the original." Bentley closed his laptop to save battery. "In any event, it's a safe bet he won't be content to let Clockwerk rest in pieces."

* * *

><p>Once the battery was locked into place on the blimp (a harrowing experience for all involved), Bentley, Murray, and I set about refurbishing it to act as a Safehouse. Well, mostly Murray. He was built for hard labor.<p>

'Blimp' wasn't really an accurate term for what this flying structure was. It was held aloft by balloons, sure, but there were six or seven of them interspersed between a medley of metallic gangplanks and engines the size of small houses.

Once we were all settled in, Sly took off to handle recon. We sat in silence, waiting for him to contact us. There was really nothing else we could do, we had no information, so Bentley couldn't start working on a plan.

Unfortunately, when Sly paraglided out to the actual blimp where Bentley had detected a large magnetic field to be, we discovered the worst.

"I… I had no idea they could re-assemble Clockwerk so fast!"

_"Calm down, Bentley."_ Sly was surprisingly good as being reassuring. _"He may be in one piece but he doesn't look, you know… alive. Let's stick to the format here. How about some recon photos?"_

"Y… you're right." As Bentley gave Sly instructions on what to take pictures of, I eased over from my spot pressed against the wall and peered over his shoulder to the screen of his laptop, seeing what Sly's binocucom saw. A hulking metallic owl with a wingspan of at least two dozen feet took up the interior of the blimp, held aloft by half a dozen steel cables.

"Holy…" My breath left me. Sly had _fought_ that? And _won_?

"Impressive, isn't he?" Bentley asked drily.

I shuddered, wrapping my arms around my sides, "Impressively terrifying."

He seemed to think this was an apt description, because we sat in silence, waiting for Sly to collect the photos he needed. When the thief made it to the front of the blimp to snatch a photo of Clockwerk from a different angle, Bentley detected voices from a room nearby.

The voices of Arpeggio and…

"Neyla?" he gaped, "Neyla's here too? I can't believe it! She must have been working with Arpeggio all along!"

Sly took pictures of both the young Arpeggio and the traitorous Neyla before Bentley commandeered control of his binocucom.

"I don't need to be in the room to see the writing on the wall. Clearly Neyla and Arpeggio have conspired together to rebuild Clockwerk- and it looks like they're dangerously close to realizing their objective."

The obvious 'but why?' lingered unsaid.

_"Look, Bentley. I know it's not your style, but I need a quick plan of attack."_ I could practically hear Sly's pulse speed up at the thought of meeting the murderer of, literally, his entire clan face to face a second time, _"I need you to think of a way, any way, to keep Clockwerk from getting reassembled."_

"Well," Bentley's voice wavered, "It looks like those spinning electro-platforms are holding the pieces together. If you can reverse their polarity, they should pull Clockwerk apart…"

It sounded like a good idea… in theory.

Sly pick-pocketed the four patrolling guards, knocked them out silently, and unlocked the control station. Then he somehow managed to defy gravity to reach all of the spinning stations and reverse them one at a time.

As he flipped the last switch, I don't think anyone breathed, waiting for Bentley's plan to work.

Ever heard of Murphy's Law?

Instead of all of the parts flying away from each other, Clockwerk's pieces snapped together and fell the few feet to the floor with a loud 'CRASH!'.

Sly took cover as Arpeggio and Neyla came running out to check on the noise then, for some unholy reason, revealed himself.

"Sly!" I shrieked into the microphone.

_"Sly Cooper!_" Neyla was surprised for a second, then chagrined, _"Of course this would be _your_ doing!"_

_"Ah, Mr. Cooper!"_ Arpeggio sounded as casual as if he was having tea with a fellow scholar, _"No doubt you believed a reversal would pull the old bird apart, eh? But it seems to have had quite the opposite effect! I'm truly grateful. When fully powered up I'll join myself to its circuits and be born anew_!" He was positively beside himself.

_"All this because you can't fly... You're pathetic."_ No more Mr. Nice Sly.

_"Immortality! Immortality is what I seek!"_ Someone has clearly never read _Tuck Everlasting_. _"The other Klaww Gang members were far too short-sighted. They were satisfied using the Clockwerk Parts to their various trivial schemes. But not me, no. I saw them for what they really were- the keys to life eternal!"_

_"So… what?"_ This was new, Sly was the one seeking information, _"You had Neyla put me on the scent back in Cairo… and then waited while I stole the parts from the other Klaww Gang members… all the while not arousing any suspicion that you were behind it all!"_

"I should've seen it." Bentley muttered, his head in his hands, "Neyla was just too convenient."

I reached out, not looking away from the screen, and patted his shoulder, "No one can know everything."

_"… was overjoyed when Arpeggio let me toss you in jail, I could finally go after the parts myself."_ Ugh… just the sound of Neyla's voice made me want to hit something.

_"Ah, but acquiring all the parts was only half the equation! … _Think_, Cooper,"_ now Arpeggio sounded like a teacher, _"What kept Clockwerk alive all those years?"_

_"He was… fueled by his hatred for my family."_ Sly sounded like he was in the middle of a heavily repressed memory.

The small parrot paid no mind, _"Splendid, that's right! Hatred! Putting his gears and wires together was child's play compared to compared with accumulating that much hatred!"_

_"You can't _make_ people hate."_ Sly spat.

_"Oh, my poor, naïve boy,"_ Geez, how old was Arpeggio? _"My meticulous mind has found a way. As your hippopotamus friend will attest, spice consumption makes people both angry _and_ susceptible to hypnosis. The Contessa, hypnotist extraordinaire, devised a way to command people through the use of flashing lights. I've created this blimp to be a massive transmitter of those precise light frequencies… the only problem I faced was finding a suitable source of light waves."_

… Oh he did NOT turn one of the most beautiful natural wonders into a tool for evil!

_"The Northern Lights! You've been collecting Northern Light energy so you could hypnotize everyone beneath the blimp!" _Sly sounded as outraged as I felt.

_"Ah, hypnotize those who'd eaten food- covered in illegal spice."_ My word, did his voice actually go up an octave out of sheer joy? _"Thank goodness for Dimitri. Through his nightclub, he got the whole city to consume the spice!"_

How could one art forger dope up Paris?

_"You're going to Paris to unleash a hypnotic light show of hate… That's _outlandishly_ cruel."_

I was struck by the entirely unwanted admiration of the character Sly had to possess to feel so protective of a city that probably wanted his head on a platter.

_"Cruel, perhaps."_ Arpeggio sounded stiff now, like he realized that Sly didn't appreciate his 'scientific endeavors', _"But necessary to give Clockwerk his spark of immortality. Ah well, my new body awaits me! Be a dear, Neyla, and keep him covered. Ta-ta!"_

He turned his wheeled perch towards Clockwerk and was instantly struck down by Neyla's whip.

"Saw that coming." Bentley and I chorused.

Neyla lept over the struggling form of Arpeggio and looked down on him with disdain, _"Stupid Arpeggio. I double-crossed the Cooper Gang, Interpol, _and_ Carmelita… what made you think I wouldn't do the same to you?"_

And then Neyla jumped into the shell of Clockwerk.

The metallic bird shuddered and began to stand, eye glowing red.

Arpeggio was still talking. _"This is preposterous! You are my protégé, not the next candidate for _my_ immortality! I demand you exit the Clockwerk frame or… OR…!"_

I looked away when Clockwerk's massive talons came down on Arpeggio's perch.

That didn't stop Neyla's voice, now semi-electronic from the new form she embodied.

_"Behold! Clock-La is born!"_

There was a loud crash as she tore out the front of the blimp, leaving Sly standing in a room full of useless machinery and blood-stained feathers.

* * *

><p>"As… we all know," Bentley said, not really making eye-contact with anyone in the dead-silent Safehouse, "Things are looking grim. Neyla had joined herself to the Clockwerk frame and the union has produced… 'Clock-La'. She's out and free to terrorize the world."<p>

"This blimp is still in motion to Paris. I can only assume Arpeggio's auto-pilot will activate the hate-hypnosis-light-show. If that happens, there'll be no stopping Clock-La… she'll be immortal. But we still have a chance."

He breathed a silent sigh of relief when Sly straightened up, Murray looked over, and even Kaia glanced up from the little ball she'd formed in the corner. They could all use a little optimism right now.

"In her new form she'll need to draw a _lot_ of energy from this blimp's engines to stay strong. If we can disable all four engines that should be enough to weaken her to a state in which we can attack. Getting at these engines will require all four of us to work together in perfect harmony- yes, even you Kaia." He added to the girl looking at him with wide, nearly-fluorescent eyes.

He turned and faced the gang as an almost tangible air of resolve and determination settled on the room.

"We've pulled off some tough jobs in the past, but they were just the warm-up round compared to what we'll be going through tonight."

* * *

><p>I settled the headset, which had been adjusted to fit me, around the crown of my head, "Everyone read me?"<p>

_"Gotcha, Jinx."_

"Loud and clear."

**"'The Murray' is ready for action."**

"Alright, let's get this ball rolling. We're gonna run this thing like a relay race on two tracks. Sly and Bentley, you're up first…"

Bentley's line about 'perfect harmony' in the briefing had not been an exaggeration. Sly had to pull the first half of a job with Bentley, then run to do the same with Murray, then meet up with Bentley who'd just finished his job to pull another, then break off to pull his own and Murray and Bentley had to meet up to complete a fourth… It was like swinging the trapeze with an invisible partner. You couldn't see them, but you had to trust that when you let go, they'd catch you before gravity claimed your life.

That was where I came in. I was coordinating all of these jobs from inside the Safehouse, urging someone along when they had a deadline to meet, helping them navigate the maze of multi-leveled pathways to shave precious seconds off travel time. The jobs themselves were things they'd pulled millions of times- pickpocket them, bomb that… I was basically just a time manager.

I don't think my heart rate dropped below 140 the entire time. At any given time I could look up, try to admire the multi-colored clouds for one split second of peace, and see Clock-La swooping down on something I couldn't see. Every single time I panicked, thinking it was one of the guys, and had to double check the screens to know that they were fine.

Then I was pinged by a fourth frequency.

My first instinct of 'well that can't be good' was overridden by my curiosity.

_"Er… is this working? Cooper gang, can you read me? I KNOW you're on that blimp!"_

I almost fell out of my chair, "Carmelita?"

_"Kaia? … Listen, I know this is weird, but I need you to get me in contact with the Cooper gang's tech specialist."_

"Uhh…" Bentley walked through the door and took off his hat, wiping sweat from his brow. I immediately vacated my chair, "It's for you."

* * *

><p>"In an unexpected windfall," Bentley had set up the projector one last time, "I've been contacted by Inspector Fox over the short-wave radio. She's well aware of the dire situation we all face if Clock-La becomes immortal and has agreed to join forces with us so that we can destroy the robotic bird."<p>

"That Carmelita," Sly said, a sliver of his usual cheer in his voice, "Always coming through when you least expect it."

"The only catch is that she is unable to locate this blimp on her radar. In order to help her hone in on our signal, we'll need to boost the strength of four local radio towers. Once Inspector Fox is in range, she'll take one of us aboard to act as a tail gunner in a dogfight against Clock-La. This is it, we don't have time for another plan. We're almost over Paris and if that hate-hypnosis-light-show goes off…" the turtle took a look around at our grim faces. "Well, you know the story."

* * *

><p>Sly and Carmelita had been fighting Clock-La for what seemed like ages.<p>

Neyla had apparently adjusted to her new body very well, having already learned to use the vast arsenal of weapons at her disposal.

Bentley, Murray, and I stood staring at the windows of the Safehouse, watching the fight in silent, morbid fascination, knowing that if our friends lost, that was it. We would die. It was all just a matter of when.

Bentley's laptop battery had finally given out, so we had no way of observing the battle from Sly's point of view. We could hear them, though, through the earbuds. Carmelita's backhanded compliments and Sly's witty retorts, all the while the stream of fire never let up.

And then the space behind Clock-La's head lit up like a Texas Spinner, shooting sparks all around and we heard Carmelita say, _"You should've been a cop! That was some terrific shooting!"_

Clock-La crashed into the middle of the pathways, the central platform that held the blimp together. It started falling apart and I panicked when, looking up, I saw Clock-La still flying… right towards the Safehouse.

"Sly," Bentley was already talking. "Sly! We've got a serious problem here. Clock-La's looking mighty upset- and I think she's going to take it out on us!"

I tackled Bentley to the ground and Clock-La reached us, but instead of colliding with us like I thought she was going to, metal talons punched through the top of the battery and with a hair-raising '_screeeeech´_ the bolts holding it in place gave way.

We were thrown about like loose luggage in an airplane. Bentley was torn from my grip and I landed on Murray. The table and chairs hit all of us at some point and I, for one, was not sure which way was up.

_"I'm coming guys, hold on!"_

Sly's reassurance did not do much for me. I'm not going to lie, I was petrified. This was more or less my worst nightmare- trapped in a container hundreds of feet above the Atlantic Ocean at the mercy of someone who wanted me dead. That combined three of my worst fears into a horrible, inescapable reality.

"I'm scared, Sly." I heard Bentley whimper, "Hurry."

Silently, I agreed.

The battery suddenly bottomed out underneath us and there was a split second of weightlessness where I dazedly thought 'Wheee, I'm flying', before Murray of all people realized what was happening.

"Oh no, we're diving!"

I hit the top of the battery, then the bottom. Someone's elbow drove into my gut and something landed on me and I heard a _snap_ and a scream. Then I realized the scream was me and the _snap_ was my arm.

For a few seconds, the chaos subsided and all I could hear was the roar of air in my ears and all I could feel was the lancing pain and surrounding heat in my forearm, like someone had replaced my bones with fiery pokers, and all I could see was the red of the inside of my eyelids as my blood pumped hotly behind them.

The battery shuddered and outside the window I saw the Eiffel Tower in the distance. We were in Paris.

Then Clock-La plummeted and I was flying again.

* * *

><p>My head felt like it was stuffed full of cotton balls. Some sort of noise was making its way through the cotton, though.<p>

"… - Kaia! Kaia, wake up! Bentley, what's wrong with her?"

I recognized the voice, so I pried my eyes open, even though I just wanted to turn away from the hand that kept hitting my face, albeit gently.

Oh, hey, it was Sly. I blinked at him blearily, before it registered why it was weird that Sly was crouching over me. I was sitting instantly, my vision turning all sparkly white with the head rush while my arm decided to let me know it wasn't happy with me.

"Please tell me someone got the plate number on that psychotic robot bird." I doubled over, cradling my limp right arm.

Sly chuckled and there was warmth around my shoulders, "See for yourself." I looked up and saw the crumpled heap of Clock-La, sitting on the bank of the Seine river, motionless.

"We… we did it!" I felt his heartbeat from where my shoulder was pressed against his chest, beating so rapidly and furiously that I was surprised he sounded so calm.

"Right on!" Murray roared to the sky.

"It's an emotional moment." It was hard to tell whether or not Bentley was being serious.

I just let my head flop against Sly, "Finally."

Ever heard of O'Toole's Law?

"Die, insects, die!" Clock-La's eyes began to glow again.

"Watch out, that thing's still kicking!" Sly hauled me to my feet and we four booked it away from the lasers that were beginning to break free of Clock-La's exoskeleton.

"How is she still alive?" I panted, feeling lightheaded with pain and exhaustion.

Surprisingly, Bentley answered, "She mentioned something about a hate chip… it sounded like the source of her power."

The gears in Sly's head were whirring away, "If we remove it, she might stop attacking."

"Then let's do a little open-head surgery," Murray pounded his fists together, "I'll pry open that beak so that Bentley can go to town with his bombs."

The proverbial huddle broke and I was quickly surprised by how nimbly Murray managed to avoid the lasers, making his way across the small spit of land where we all stood to crouch by the beak and, true to his word, pry it open.

"I'm up," Bentley said, running over as a hologram of Neyla ranted and raved about something or other. Sly stayed by me, crouched in a position to run over if he needed to, tail waving in precise, irritated sweeps of the air.

There was a small explosion and Bentley freed the hate-chip. He held it up with a triumphant expression, "Let's get out of here! She's about to blow!" Then-

"BENTLEY!"

There was a horrible metallic snap and Clock-La's jaw fell closed. Bentley gave a short, awful yelp of pain from within and was silent.

Despite the fact that we'd been warned that Clock-La was on the verge of an explosion, neither Sly nor I wasted a second in leaping from the top of the battery, dodging lasers as Murray wrestled the metallic beak open a second time to free his reptilian friend.

Bentley's face was twisted into a grimace of intense pain, "Murray, pick me up… I can't walk."

Looking like he was about to cry, Murray gathered the genius turtle in his arms as gently as he could. Then Clock-La started sparking.

"Let's get out of here!"

* * *

><p>Carmelita's boot came down hard on the hate-chip, crushing a grid of delicate circuitry like an eggshell.<p>

The strewn, smoking parts of Clock-La aged hundreds of years in seconds, bright silver metal rusting and deteriorating like a time-lapse.

The Inspector and Sly were looking over the remains of Clock-La, being sure they hadn't missed anything that could revive the Cooper clan's curse. I was kneeling on the battery, on level with the unconscious Bentley that Murray held in his arms.

I was blinking back tears, fumbling with the clasps of the armor on the front of his shell. I was trying to get it off so he could breathe a little easier, but I could only use my left-hand and I was hugely right-dominant.

I finally managed to get it undone and slipped it off, placing it on the battery-top next to me. Murray looked at me with bright, watery eyes.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" He asked, lip trembling.

I tried to force a smile, "I'm sure he'll be fine. Bentley's tougher than he looks." I hoped that was true. With his glasses broken and askew, his tongue lolling out the corner of his mouth, he didn't look particularly sturdy. All I could hope was that his shell had taken the brunt of the hit.

"Hands up, Cooper gang. You're under arrest."

I should have seen that coming. Carmelita was far too black and white, it was her nature. Not to mention she still needed to clear her name.

Sly seemed to click into auto-pilot, looking around for escape routes. His gaze landed on us and he seemed to decide something.

"Tell you what, Carmelita." He said, facing her. "You let Murray take Bentley and go, and I'll go with you completely peacefully. No tricks, no trouble."

My jaw dropped. By now, the very idea of Sly behind bars made me nauseous. It wasn't going to be like when the Contessa had him, he wouldn't be going to a secluded estate and Bentley wasn't one hundred percent and ready to break him out.

But what else could he do? He was right; the rest of the gang was in no position for a quick escape.

Carmelita was staring him down, trying to figure out if he was telling the truth; then her gaze flicked over to the unconscious Bentley and crying Murray, then back to Sly, "Alright, Cooper." She turned to them, even as we heard the sound of sirens approaching. "Go, get out of here, hurry."

"I'll be seeing you, Murray." I couldn't think of anything else to say.

He walked away with hunched shoulders, leaving me staring at the pile of gear he and Bentley had left behind. Then it hit me.

It was over. Everything was over. Sly was going to jail, Murray and Bentley were going to be on the run and I would go home.

Home.

For some reason, I couldn't drudge up the feeling of relief I knew I was supposed to have. I could only stare blankly at the ground in front of me.

"This is it, then."

I looked up. Sly had come over and was trying for a grin as he sat next to me. It didn't really reach his eyes.

"How's your arm?"

I swallowed and tried for a smile of my own, "Well, you know, I've always wanted to be ambidextrous. Now I get a chance to learn." I couldn't really inject the light-heartedness that my jest required.

As Murray disappeared around a distant corner, I looked down again, "I'm sorry, Sly."

"What for?" He sounded surprised.

I rubbed at my eyes with my good hand, "It looks like I really was a jinx on your team. It wasn't supposed to end like this, was it?"

"… No. But," he reached around my back, resting his hand on my head and pulling me close for just a moment, "It was fun having you along. And after this, we're due good luck for at least a decade." He sighed and stood, not looking at me as the lights of the approaching cars started to ricochet off the windows of nearby buildings, "Better go let Carmelita cuff me. See you around, Jinx."

My heart jumped in my throat as he took a step away and I knew that I couldn't just let him leave like that.

"Sly-wait!"

I lunged, catching his wrist with my left hand, and he looked back at me, surprised.

… Crap, I hadn't thought this far ahead.

"You should know," The words tumbled out of my mouth, no thought put behind them, "That there's a difference between Stockholm Syndrome and friendship."

* * *

><p><strong>THE END<strong>

* * *

><p>It's okay, it's okay, guys, breathing is good! We- we still have an Epilogue! Okay, it's like, a page long, but there's still an Epilogue to go!<p>

And- and there's the sequel! I'm planning on finishing the sequel before I have to go back to school for the spring semester! It won't be out until some time in September or October, but it's coming, I swear!

Also, I have a little idea to bounce off you guys... It will be a while before the sequel, so I was considering creating a blog for this series, to kind of tide you guys over. It would also be for me to show off, I'd keep you guys up to date with how the stories are going, any plans I have for the series I feel that won't be spoiler-ish, Q&A's (a bunch of you have asked me questions and I'd like to be able to answer them all in a way anyone else with the same question could see), deleted scenes that didn't quite make it into the story, one-shots, artwork, sneak peeks, stuff like that. If I get enough people who say they're interested, I'll probably make the blog and post the link when I put the Epilogue up here in a month or so. So, what do you think?

Also, should you guys decide you like the idea of a blog, I'll do something special for the hundredth reviewer! I'll write a one-shot or get the person who draws all the fanart to draw a picture (I'll bribe her with cookies or something), just whatever the reviewer wants! That's right, this story has almost 100 reviews! That means, if you're an anonymous reviewer, leave an email address where I can reach you to ask you what you want for your prize!

Hooooo, okay, I can't drag it out anymore, I have no more to say. But thank you guys sooooo much for all of your support and kindness throughout this story! I'll be thanking a few specific reviewers in the long A/N that will go after the epilogue, but for now, just know I love all of you guys! Big hug! ((*hugs everyone through the comp*))

Please let me know what you though and God Bless!


	14. Paramedics and Epilogues

I said I wouldn't post the Epilogue for a month... I'm such a liar, lol.

Anyways, the reason this is early is because I'd like some feedback from you guys on a project I'm working on and because a reviewer who has been reviewing since the first chapter let slip that today was her birthday. (Again, well played Versia Aremis)

Anyhow, I know you guys just want to read the Epilogue, so I'll let you do that, then leave a super long note at the bottom.

On with the Epliogue!

* * *

><p>At the end of Eli's first week as a police officer in The City of Lights there was a massive air-battle and a subsequent series of sky-to-ground crashes within city-limits.<p>

He tried not to contemplate too terribly much on the fact that it might be a sign.

Upon arriving on the scene with his senior partner, they discovered that Inspector Carmelita Fox of Interpol, formerly thought to be a rogue agent, had apprehended the notorious leader of the Cooper gang and rescued one Kaia Jenks, an American who'd been kidnapped by Cooper some two months back.

Eli really only got a glimpse of Cooper before he was taken to a helicopter to be flown to the nearest detention center, but was surprised at how young he looked.

The paramedics showed up then and, as the best English speaker in the area, he was assigned to translate between the anxious medics and Jenks.

He felt kind of awkward, helping the paramedics instruct her movement through the splinting of an obviously broken arm, but she gave him an understanding and grateful smile when he placed a blanket around her shoulders on instruction.

Then another car arrived, a black unmarked vehicle with police lights flashing on the rearview mirror.

Before it had even completely stopped, a tall, broad Husky had thrown open the passenger door.

"Kaia!"

Her head snapped up and she ignored the paramedics trying to start a pain medication IV, flying from her seat towards the car, "DAD!"

He caught her mid-leap and spun once with the momentum, holding her tight. The officers cataloguing evidence all looked up, but quickly returned to their tasks in order to give the father and daughter some privacy, though most were trying to hide smiles.

Eli looked up, then blinked in surprise to see a speck of blue jumping from the helicopter that had taken off two hours ago.

"Is Cooper escaping!" Someone called.

Then the crime scene started buzzing with incredulity and surprise and many officers leapt into cars and sped off in pursuit. On reflex, Eli whipped his head over to look at the Jenks girl.

He was surprised to see her smile as she gazed up at the sky, eyes crinkled like she was privy to a secret joke.

Then his partner yelled at him to get moving and it was business as usual.

* * *

><p>I'm sorry, I told you the Epilogue was short! Yet another reason I didn't wait a month to post it...<p>

Alrighty, guys! First things first: the blog is going to become a thing. So many of you loved the idea and I'm so happy that you guys are excited about it. As someone who has a major problem with being apathetic I cannot fathom how so many people can get so excited over something that I'm doing, but I'm so glad you are! Seriously, I'm so apathetic, the only thing that gets me excited is writing and reviews (hinthint).

In regards to the blog, I have a question for the lot of you crazy, crazy people (I love you). Having decided to create a blog, I'm left with a dilemma: what sort of blog to create. I could use Tumblr, but I'm such a beginner that any veteran Tumblr... ers(?) would cringe when they saw my patchwork blog. I could also create a Facebook page, which I love the idea of (because I actually know how to work Facebook), but some of you guys might not want to use your Facebook (real-life) identities to interact with the fanfiction community.

So, I'm leaving it up to a vote! Facebook or Tumblr?

Or, if anyone out there knows a better site to use (free please, I'm a broke college student), feel free to suggest it! Someone told me they wanted me to create a _forum_, you guys are so nice! Someone also told me they wanted Sucker Punch to remake Sly 2 with Kaia, that sent me cartwheeling down the street. Seriously, that's the nicest thing anyone has ever said about one of my stories.

After a week, I'll tally up the votes for different sites and start work on the blog. I should have it up in no more than two weeks, but you can start looking for it after that first week, I'll post the link on my profile when it's up.

One last thing, I don't want to just put the blog up empty, so I'm going to give you guys something else to vote on (aren't you lucky?). Should the first thing I put on the blog be:

- Kaia's bio (I've had bunches of people ask me for more info on her and I can't really figure out a way to work it into the story without launching into a MarySue-esque paragraph o' description)

- A Q&A (if you vote on this, please give me some questions to answer)

- Other (please suggest something, I want to put content on here that you guys want!)

Alright, uhh... that's it. I'm sure I'll think of some more stuff to tell you at a later date, but I can do that through the blog! I'm seriously liking this idea more and more.

I love you guys! Please let me know what you thought and God Bless!


	15. Alternate Epilogue

What's this? An alternate Epilogue? Is Neassa really this nice?

Why don't you read and see?

* * *

><p>Sly winced at the thud from behind him. Sure, it wasn't <em>that<em> loud, but his senses were wired and any sound could be their undoing at this point.

"Sorry, Sly. Small window, big feet."

The raccoon forced a smile and grabbed what they needed from the shelves, "No worries, pal... Now shake it off and get into your disguise before someone comes to investigate that noise."

The main benefit to using disguises to sneak into a semi-public area, like this hospital, was that most people didn't think disguises worked. And it was true that most of the time they didn't. As Thaddius Winslow Cooper III had written in the Thievius Raccoonus, it was all in the way you carried yourself. A mixture of looking like you were supposed to be there and some sort of Jedi mind trick, really.

Of course, that didn't help so much once you realized that the door to the supply closet you'd climbed up to was locked from the outside. He could pick it, of course, but there was no telling if he could get it open before someone came to investigate the noise Murray had made.

Then again, the only other option was getting back on the rope outside and trying to find other conveniently located storage closet...

He'd just slipped a couple of picks out of his leg pouch when the handle started to turn. No way were they going to disappear before whoever was out in the hall got a look at them. He flipped his cane up into his hand; the only option would be to yank them in, then knock them out before they could call for help.

The door opened about halfway and Sly swung his cane out in a smooth arc, sincerely hoping he wasn't about to attack an innocent nurse.

It would have been a perfect maneuver if his target hadn't ducked.

He had just a second to realize how badly his balance was compromised and the fact that the target was now inside his guard before there was a flash of black and something drove up under his ribs, knocking him on his back and the air out of his lungs.

"Sly!" He heard Murray yelp.

He was sitting up immediately, not quite able to see because of the black spots in his vision, but grabbing for his cane, even as he was gasping for air. They must have been seen as they were climbing up the building, they had to get out-

"Murray? Sly?"

He froze. No way...

He dragged in a gasp and his vision finally settled. He looked up and there she was, pulling the door closed behind her.

"Sorry, sorry. I just- reflex, y'know?"

"Kaia!"

"Oh, I'm fine, thanks for asking," Sly wheezed as Murray ran past him to sweep Kaia into a bear hug, "I'll just sit here and... calmly die of internal bleeding..."

She laughed slightly as the hippo set her down. If Sly didn't know better, he'd say she was giggling. "Come on, I didn't hit you _that_ hard."

"Says you." It really was her. He couldn't get that out of his head. What was she doing here?

She took the few steps necessary to reach him, holding out a hand to help him up. He didn't miss the way she was cradling her other arm slightly. Instead of standing up, he pulled her down next to him. He doubted she could have pulled him up with her left arm anyway.

"Hey!"

He took her right arm and pushed the sleeve of her baggy black hoodie up. Oh. Well, he really should have expected that. It had only been three weeks, after all. "So, I get to sign this, right?"

She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, I'd love to explain to my dad why your signature is on my cast."

"It'll blend right in with all the rest of these," He tilted the wrist-to-elbow monstrosity to get look at a doodle on the side, "... why is there a bunny on a pike?"

"Oh, um..." She twisted her head to the side to look, "My friend, Millie, came over to visit for break. That's probably her handiwork."

"Break?" It was only November.

"Yeah, break. In America, Thanksgiving is tomorrow. Well," she checked her phone, "Today, technically."

"Kaia? You'll let 'The Murray' sign your cast, right?" Very few people could be above the age of thirteen and use the world renowned Puppy Dog Eyes to their full effect. Murray was one of those people.

Kaia twitched like she had a few thousand volts of electricity running through her veins, then sighed and reached into her back pocket, producing three colorful markers and letting him select one with a red cap, "You're a cheater and you should feel bad about it."

"Love the color by the way. You pick it out?" Sly took a black marker before she could protest and picked out a fairly clear spot near the front of the royal blue cast, next to a bunny that appeared to be dead on the side of a road. He wondered if this 'Millie' person was psychotic.

"Shut up. It's the only color they had."

He also wondered if Kaia knew that he knew her tell. "Why are you in Paris still? I thought you would have gone home."

"Interpol is still figuring out what to do with me, a lot of them want to leave me with their best interrogators for a week to see if they can get any info out of me. Not to mention I've been sighted all over the world in the last few months and my passport shows no record. They're having a field day with that." She shrugged. "So I've mostly been stuck in my hotel room, trying desperately to catch up on all my schoolwork since I don't speak French. I estimate I'll get to go home in a week or so."

He nodded, running his thumb over the top of the cast while Murray continued to work higher up, the tip of his tongue sticking out the corner of his mouth in concentration, "This hurt?"

She shook her head, "Not so much anymore. So long as I don't do anything stupid, the doctor says it can come off in another couple of weeks."

"So you're thinking of holding onto it until Christmas, then?" He blocked the hit aimed for his head and his eyes locked onto a green scrawl on the cast. He'd have recognized that signature if he was blind. For someone whose primary method of communication was typing, Bentley had some nice calligraphy, "Bentley signed your cast?"

"Yeah. Why do you think I'm here? I'm a minor, I go to the pediatrics hospital. I'm here to see Bentley, and I'm guessing you are too. I'm also guessing that you're not running on any sort of timetable, seeing as how you've spent the last five minutes sitting on the floor of a supply closet and drawing on my arm."

"But it's midnight."

"The night guards are very receptive to coffee bribes and _someone_ has to help me with my Chemistry homework."

"Excellent," He stood, offering her a hand up. "You can tell us where his room is. I was going to charm the answer out of a nurse, but this is much more convenient."

"They'd probably call security on you anyhow." She replied, rolling her eyes and taking his help after Murray had finished his drawing on her cast. "He's one floor down. I don't remember the exact number, but his is the only room with a guard posted outside. There's also one at the nurse's station and at the stairwell, so you might want to take the elevator."

For a few seconds, he just stared at her. Then he smirked, "Have you _planned_ this?"

The tips of her ears turned bright red and she shoved him. "I just happen to visit a lot, okay? And besides, you guys were taking forever..."

Sly opened his mouth to defend their lack of intervention on the basis that they wanted Bentley to have as much time as possible for professional physical therapy, then closed it at the last second. He didn't want her to give them bad news, especially not with how poor Murray's self-confidence had been lately. He couldn't risk Murray being even more distracted, not tonight.

"Well, we're here now." He turned back to the door and pulled out a couple of lockpicks.

"No need for that," Kaia strode right past him, "Give me a little credit. I didn't just intentionally lock myself in a closet with two wanted criminals." She then, to his surprise, pushed the door open with her shoulder, using her good hand to take something from the lock as she did.

"How'd you do that?" Murray asked.

She smiled and showed them two business cards that she'd apparently stuck in the door to keep it from latching shut, "Good to know these are good for something."

"What are they?"

"Cards from journalists. They're endless." She shrugged, "You'd think after almost a month, they'd give up."

Sly snorted, stepping into the hall and looking both ways. "They harass you a lot?"

"Not as much as they used to. That's why I come up one floor and then go down the stairs and use the side entrance. They have a tendency to hang around the main doors. Now," she whispered, looking up and down the bare hall, "Give me a few minutes to get out of here. If they think I helped you get in, no way are they letting me go home before Christmas."

He nodded at her, "Thanks."

She hesitated for a second, then nodded in reply and turned on her heel, making for the opposite end of the hall. It was then that he noticed that she was walking away from him now and it was his turn to say something.

"Hey, Jinx."

She look over her shoulder, her expression wary. No- not wary... nervous?

He smirked and winked, "See you around."

Her ears turned bright red and she opened and closed her mouth twice before twisting it into a scowl that was trying desperately to turn into a smile and pointing at him accusingly.

"You'd better!"

* * *

><p>Hi, friends! Thought I'd give you a little something to tide you over until the sequel.<p>

Speaking of which.

The sequel will be name Lima Syndrome and will be posted on July 24. Mwaha, a release date! Given the length of Lima Syndrome, this will give everyone something to read from July to sometime next spring, which gives me enough time to tackle the third story in the series and hopefully get most of it done before Lima Syndrome ends.

And to tide you over _until_ Lima Syndrome... The blog is up! Yes, ladies and gents, I actually made a blog. There's a handful of posts already, some fanart, Kaia's bio, I answered a few questions (please go to the blog and ask me a question, in makes me happy on the inside), there's a couple of polls, I posted this thing, and I'm also starting a Stockholm Syndrome Commentary! The first chap is up and packed full of gifs. I'd love it if you'd all mosey on over to the blog and tell me what you'd like to see in future commentaries and posts and any ideas you have to the blog. I thrive on feedback! You can click on the 'Homepage' link in my profile or just go to limitsofsanity (dot) tumblr (dot) com

Hope you're all doing well and I can't wait to see what you come up with! God Bless!

~*~Neassa


End file.
